Summer In Mullingar
by Nyk Morris
Summary: This is the story of how I met and fell in love with Nile Borran. This is a story of love shared, love gained, and love lost. This is my story...and I wouldn't change one bit of it.
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

_I hate packing! _Packing enough clothes for a summer... What is that?! I over pack for short trips, so what the hell am I supposed to pack for a whole summer. In Mullingar fricking Ireland! Where is that? If I had it my way, I'd spend my summer alternating between the beaches of Ocean City or Chincoteague or the pool at my house, hanging with my friends every day.

But nooo! I have to spend my summer in fa-reaking Mullingar because my mom's new husband has family there. What's in Mullingar anyway? I'll be spending my summer without friends but with hoards of sheep. SHEEP!

Luckily, I have my sister, Reyghan, to share in my misery with me. She's my best friend. I've never been more than two days without seeing her, and I'd like to keep it that way.

"Khyri! Reyghan! Bring your bags down! It's almost time to go!" mom yelled from the front hall.

Reyghan walked by my bedroom door with her bags in tow. She peeked into my room and stopped. Just about everything I owned was strewn about the floor of my room.

"Rey, don't just stand there, help me."

I was sitting on a suitcase full of shoes, struggling to close the bag.

Now look, I'm not primpy, prissy, or preppy, just a few months ago, I became rich. My daddy died just before I turned ten. Then, about seven years later, my mom met Bill on the dating website Plenty of Fish, they fell in love, and got married. Little did I know that he was rich! We'd never had money before, always been lower middle class. I was sort of getting used to having money, just decided not to spend it on ridiculous stuff. (I still shop on sales.) I did buy clothes, though, for this trip because I've heard how crazy the weather is in the UK. So I packed a nice mixture of...Everything. Like I said: I over pack.

Reyghan zipped up each of my bags as I sat down on them. I had six bags sans my purse. We took our luggage downstairs, checked the security system and the locks all around the house, we unplugged everything, and packed all of our bags into Bill's SUV. We locked every entrance and then headed for the Salisbury airport. We pulled into Mullingar the next day around noon.

"William," a woman in her late eighties met us at the airport with a fancy black car, the kind that all rich people tend to have.

"Ah, Aunt Persephone, it is so great to see you again," Bill cooed.

"This must be your new wife, Caroll, and your stepdaughters."

"Nice to meet you, Aunt Persephone," my mom beamed.

"And you girls, you may call me Great Aunt Persephone. Now, blast it! What are your names again?"

"I'm Khyri," I said with a little bow of the head.

"And I'm Reyghan," she followed suit.

"Of, course, Khyri and Reyghan."

Let me just explain that my mom, sister, and I look black. We're actually light skinned, all of us around a vanilla coffee color. Bill is  
Irish and Native American, born in Australia, and sounds South African. Plus, mom, Reyghan, and I have Native American and a great abundance of French in us...sooo... Our family is a mess. And Great Aunt Persephone noticed, but smiled graciously, anyway.

On the way to Great Aunt Persephone's house, we rode by bright green pastures... Full. Of. Sheep. I growled under my breath and Rey chuckled because she knew exactly what had caused my mood.

"Now, Khyri," Great Aunt Persephone chided, "It is not lady-like to growl."

Did I forget to mention that Great Aunt Persephone is a Lady?

Mom and Bill were following behind us in a black, expensive rental car. Why they insisted that Reyghan and I ride with Great Aunt Persephone and her driver, I'll never know.

When we arrived at Great Aunt Persephone's house (more so a castle), Reyghan and I stood in awe of the fine architectural masterpiece. This castle was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen close-up in my entire life.

Great Aunt Persephone spread out her arms to us and said with pride, "Welcome to Windgate Manor."

"Great Aunt Persephone," Reyghan spoke up. "I thought that your last name was Whitloch."

"It is, dearie, but I married a Whitloch, this is my family's home, the Windgates."

"Well, what are you waiting for, girls?" Bill gestured. "Go take a look inside."

That was all Reyghan and I needed in order to take off like a shot into the castle, leaving our bags and the elders behind in the drive.

"Wow!" Reyghan and I said as we walked inside.

Everything inside the light grey stone walls was deep and rich in colors and textures. Fine silks, soft velvets, the highest quality wools, and expensive tapestries were all over the main room.

"Upstairs," I hissed to Reyghan.

We ran up the steep staircase to the east wing where Great Aunt Persephone had said we'd be staying in.

We opened the fourth door on the right and peeked inside. There was a huge bed to the far left wall of the room. I automatically knew that this was to be my room. It had dark colors like deep purples and the darkest of blacks. I usually stick to neon purple with black, but I wasn't going to file a complaint with Great Aunt Persephone. This room was beautiful just the way it was and I loved it.

"Let's see your room," I said to Reyghan.

We walked across the corridor to Reyghan's room and it was filled with rich greens. Hers was just about the same as mine, just with a different color scheme.

"Great Aunt Persephone made these rooms perfectly for us."

"You know, we should just call her GAP- when we're nowhere near her," Rey suggested.

"You're right, because saying 'Great Aunt Persephone' all the time will be quite the mouthful."

"What time is Mallory getting here?"

"I'm not sure. I know she wants to take us into town with her. You know for 'sisterly bonding' and all that good crap."

She giggled, "Well, let's go get our bags so that we can change. We may be in Sheepsville, but we are gonna look good while we're here. You did bring all the make-up, right?"

"Of course I brought all the make-up," I said as we headed back the way we came.

"Are your rooms to your liking?" GAP asked as we made it into the main room.

"They were perfect, Great Aunt Persephone, thank you very much. We were just about to get dressed to head out into town with Mallory when she gets here. Is there anything you would like us to pick up for you while we're out?" I asked in my sweetest and most polite voice possible. I had an old-school southern black mom, I'd learned my manners.

"Oh, no thank you, love, I'm all set."

"Yes, ma'am. Bill, what time is Mallory supposed to arrive?"

"She won't be here until two-thirty," he said while checking his wrist watch.

Just then GAP's butler brought in the rest of our bags. He offered to take them up to our bedrooms and we nodded that that would be helpful and that we were grateful for his assistance.

Reyghan and I followed him up with some of the bags that we had chosen not to burden the butler with.

When he sat down my bags in my room, I asked him what his name was and he told me that it was Jason. I thanked him again for his help and then closed the door behind him to rummage through my clothes to find the perfect outfit to wear into town.

When I had finished I had come out with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, black glitter Toms, and a flowing blue blouse. I put my hair in a low side ponytail to the left, and let my bangs dangle to the left, as well, and tucked a pretty black flower clip in to the right. I went to my private bathroom to apply my make-up. Being sure to accentuate my best features, my very light brown eyes, and my soft pink lips. When I had finished, I was very content with my look and wandered into Reyghan's room to see where she had come along in the process.

I sat on the edge of her bed as she wrapped up getting ready. She had on a short flowing floral dress with a grey cardigan. She donned a pair of silver flats, and wore her hair in her usual down with her bangs twisted back into a clip.

We walked down the stairs together and saw that Mallory was in the main room waiting for us to come down. Apparently she had gotten here and was ready to go into town with us.

Mallory was Bill's daughter from his previous marriage. She was twenty-one years old. Making her three years older than me, and six years older than Reyghan. She was stunning. Her hair was a beautiful caramel brown that flowed long down her back. She was tall, unlike me. She stood at 5'9 and was willowy. Reyghan was similar in body type to her, she was 5'6, but with more curve but equally as skinny. Me, on the other hand, I was just at 5'0 and curvy. I wasn't chunky and I wasn't quite as skinny as my sisters, but I considered myself to be a pretty attractive girl. Other people found me to be so, too.

As we walked out to the car that Mallory had driven here from her home in London (luckily it was silver), we carried out small-talk. Mallory was the new sister in this relationship. Reyghan and I had been as close as two sisters could possibly ever be, and we weren't sure how to take a new addition to the equation. Especially Reyghan, who had a hard enough time letting regular people into her atmosphere, let alone a new sister.

"You already got your money transferred right? When you were in Wales?"

"Yeah, Bill already did that for us. So, what are we going to be doing today?"

"I thought we could go to the Rock 'n' Bowl."

"A bowling alley?" Reyghan asked in a complicated tone.

"That would be great. Rey and I haven't gone bowling in a while."

"Great!" Mallory said as she parked her car on the side of the road. We walked a distance to get to the bowling alley. Just before I stepped foot inside the door of the building, I saw the most beautiful blue eyes watching me from across the street.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

I was frozen where I stood. He had the most intense blue eyes that I could see from all the way across the street. He was showing four other guys around, and I wished that I was part of that tour. His hair was a messy blonde and he had this dorky smile plastered on his face, and I felt one on my face as well. But I wasn't going to move until he did.

"Khyri, come inside, don't just stand about," Mallory called to me from inside the building.

I was just standing with the door to the bowling alley open, looking across the street.

"Nile," one of the boys he was with called to him. "Why are you standing about?" His voice was an English accent.

They took Nile by the arm and took him away from me and for some reason, I felt a deep sense of dread as I saw him being torn away from me. He kept turning around to look at me as Reyghan took my hand and pulled me inside the building.

"You saw him, right?" I asked her as we entered.

"Oh, yeah, I saw all those guys out there. You know, they kind of look like this band I listen to."

"Rey, I highly doubt that. But that blonde one, he was really cute!"

"Kinda looks like Nile."

"Whoa what?!" I said freaking out.

"He looks like Nile from This Way."

"You mean that boy band you've been trying to get me into? The one where I keep swearing up and down that one of the boys' name is Robbie?"

"Yeah, that's the one," she chuckled. "That boy outside, looks like Nile Borran."

"That boy outside, I'm pretty sure, IS Nile Borran," I gasped.

"Oh, my gosh, I forgot, he does live in Mullingar."

"You forgot that one of the hottest guys in the entire world just happens to live in the place that we're spending our summer. You just...FORGOT?!"

"Hey, we need to get your shoe sizes," Mallory smiled.

"Six," I said, irritated.

"Nine," Rey half-heartedly smiled.

"That's what I wear!" Mallory chimed.

We set up to bowl, put on our shoes, set up our balls, and got ready to bowl.

"You know, I think I'm gonna take you to your first pub," Mallory told me. "You aren't allowed to drink in the States right?"

"No, I'm only eighteen."

"Have you ever had a drink before?"

"Of course, I'm eighteen," I laughed.

We bowled two games. Each time I came in second place, with Mallory and Reyghan alternating the first and third spot. We walked back to the car and got inside.

"Rey, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to drop you off back at the manor. I'm taking Khyri to a pub tonight and I don't think that it is a good place for a fifteen year old to be hanging out. You understand."

"Of course. Just don't let Khyri get too wasted, I'd hate to see her lose control of all the inhibitions she has left to give."

"Ha ha ha," I said as I looked outside the window.

"Did you want to change?" Mallory asked as we walked back into the manor.

"Let me just touch up my make-up, I'll be right back."

I ran up the stairs and added some dramatic features to my make-up for the night scene. I took my hair down and styled it to be less girlish, more fierce, which I am pretty good at pulling off. I put on this sexy black top, one of my favorites, but left my lower half alone. Looking in the mirror, I was satisfied with my look and went downstairs to meet Mallory.

"You look pretty hot, girly," she admired.

"Thanks. So, which pub are we going to?"

"It's called Weir's Pub."

Mallory and I strut into the pub like we owned the place. She ordered us two beers with a frothy top. I'd never had it right out of the tap, all I'd ever had was Bud Light and some liquors, oh, and some wine. But I had to admit, that this was the best alcohol I had had in my life.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't get too carried away. I was planning on spending some time in here, not getting wasted right away," Mallory chuckled.

"Oh, crap, I wasn't even thinking about getting drunk so fast! I wasn't trying to! I was thinking that this beer tastes really, really good."

"Doesn't it? Let's go sit down."

We turned to pick out a table, and just then, Nile walked into the pub. He was even more gorgeous close up. He turned to face the bar and then saw me. He had a stream of friends shuffle in behind him but he didn't pay them any mind as they took seats at the bar. He was just looking into my eyes, and that was all that I could do. I saw him walk toward me and my heart instantly thrummed loudly in my ears. I took about two steps toward him, before I slipped on something wet on the floor. I fell right on my butt. In the middle of a pub. In front of the hottest guy I had ever seen.

I wanted to die.

Luckily, I fell all the way back and knocked myself unconscious.

When I woke up, I was surrounded by Mallory, the people in the pub, and NILE!

Oh, my gosh, I knocked myself unconscious in front of Nile!

"Khyri, are you all right?!" Mallory hissed. "Dad is gonna get so pissed at me if you are concussed."

"I'm okay, Mallory." I tried to stand, but wavered as I got to my feet, "At least I think I am."

As I tried to steady myself, I absently had grabbed onto Nile for support, but he had grabbed onto my waist to keep me up.

When we noticed what we had done, we let go of each other hastily.

"Alright, everyone," Mallory called. "Give the girl some breathing room."

"Thanks, for helping me," I fumbled to Nile.

"Eh, no problem. Are you sure you're alright?" He had an Irish accent that was so cute. My heart swam at the sound of his voice.

"I think so, I just slipped on...something. I'm not drunk or anything. I just had a few gulps. Sips! I'm gonna shut up now," I felt heat rising into my cheeks.

He laughed at me but it was in an endearing way, not patronizing.

"I'm Nile," he smiled with braces on his teeth.

"Khyri." I smiled back, the sweetest one I could muster after embarrassing myself in front of him so terribly.

"That's a cute name."

"No one has ever said that before."

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked gingerly.

"Sure, I'd like that."

We headed for the bar and I turned around to face Mallory. She was giving me the universal sign for "girl, you'd better work, that boy is way cute!"

"What will you have?" he asked.

"Um, beer?"

He chuckled, "Do you know what kind?"

"Tap."

He chuckled and ordered me a drink. I took a quick sip of beer and led him to a table, this time without falling.

"I take it you're from America?" he asked, sipping his pint.

"Yeah, my family and I are spending our summer with relatives."

"Where're you staying?"

"Windgate Manor."

"You're related to Lady Persephone?"

"Yeah, she's my great aunt."

"Who's she?"

"That's Mallory, she's my stepsister."

"Since you're from America, this must be your first time in a pub."

"That obvious, huh?"

"Well, you look young..."

I smiled, "Eighteen."

"See? Besides, you didn't know what to order at the bar."

"I wish the drinking age back home was eighteen."

"I wish it were too when I go over there."

"You go to America?"

"Yeah, I'm kinda in a band."

"This Way, right?"

"Yeah," he said.

"My sister told me today at the bowling alley. She's gotten me into listening to you guys, I wasn't really good with faces and names. I kept swearing that one of your names was Robbie. Oh, my gosh, I shouldn't have said that." I said as I sipped more on my beer.

He was laughing really hard at what I had said. I felt my cheeks turn red again. I just kept messing things up with this guy, I was usually smoother than that. I drained my glass while he was laughing, freaking out about the situation.

Chuckling, he managed to get out, "You're funny."

"I haven't been trying to be. I've just been feeling really awkward since being here."

"Awkwardness is cute on you."

I smiled and blushed at that. He thought I was cute!

"Khyri, Bill just texted me. Apparently Caroll didn't know that I took you to a pub, she got a little mad. Wanna take a quick trip to appease her?"

"Not really," I said, looking at Nile. "But if I don't she'll be livid. I should go talk to her."

"You're leaving?" Nile looked crushed, it almost made me want to cry.

"I kinda have to. Maybe we'll see each other again?"

"I don't know..." he started. "This town is pretty big."

I laughed, he smiled that I laughed at his joke. "We'll see each other again," I promised.

I grabbed my bag, paid for my first drink that had gone to the floor, and looked back at Nile as Mallory and I walked out of the pub.

While we were inside it had started to drizzle so we ran to the car. On the drive home, Mallory mercilessly asked me about Nile. I told her his name, that he was kind of famous, that he was sweet and gracious about all of my slip ups (and literal), that he made me smile, and that he was the first person to make me blush in a long time.

Then I felt weird about telling her that stuff because that was what I normally would have told Reyghan first off, not anyone else, especially not a new sister. Luckily I hadn't gone into deep detail so I could still give Rey the play-by-play. Which made me sigh with relief.

When we got back to the manor, mom was waiting for us in the main room.

"Don't be mad, it's legal here!"

"Are you drunk?" she started right off the bat.

"No! I just had one beer; I'm not that much of a lightweight."

"Why do you look flushed," she eyed me suspiciously.

"I met a guy," I shrugged.

"What's his name?"

"Nile."

"He's from This Way," Rey chimed in.

"That band you're always listening to?"

"Yeah, them."

"Well...tell me about him."

I gave mom the same details I had given to Mallory; Mom, Mallory, and, especially, Rey had huge grins on their faces the entire time.

That's why I love my mom. She can be strict at times, usually warranted, but she's also cool, like an old friend.

"Sounds like a nice kid. Be careful with this guy though, Khy, he's famous, which means he can have any girl he wants in the world. Don't get your hopes up too high."

"Thanks a lot, mom."

"You know that's not what I meant. I just don't want you to get your heart broken by some jetsetter."

"I won't. My heart is under lock and key."

"Keep it that way. We're only here for a summer."

Jason walked into the room and announced that dinner was served. We filed in and took our appropriate seats and the servers brought out an array of foods for us to eat.

Most of the food was unknown to me, but that didn't stop me from eating it. I made a rule for myself a long time ago to at least try everything that is unfamiliar once. So when I saw the sheep stomach, I decided that I would try it. And, you know, it wasn't all that bad. It was a new taste, that didn't mean that it wasn't good. I carried on with eating the rest of my dinner. There was casual small talk at the table, presided by GAP. Her manners at the table were unmatched.

"Khyri, Reyghan, I've heard that you two girls fancy singing. Is that correct?"

"We do, Great Aunt Persephone," Reyghan replied.

"Sing for me."

"What would you like to hear?"

"Sing me a hymn."

We stood and faced each other. "Great Is Thy Faithfulness?" I suggested.

"Sure."

We began singing, I took the melody and Rey to the harmony. GAP closed her eyes as we sang and gently swayed back and forth in her seat. Mallory, mom, and Bill smiled as we completed the song. The three of them clapped for us. GAP just opened her eyes and thanked us for singing for her. We took our seats back at the dinner table, not sure if we were supposed to do more than that or if we were excused.

"You two have beautiful voices!" Mallory exclaimed.

"That they do," GAP said, without too much feeling in her voice.

I wasn't sure what that meant, coming from her. Did that mean that we had beautiful voices or that we didn't?

Either way, I continued to sip on the remainder of my water and think about Nile as everyone else talked.

I was so swept away in my own mind that I didn't hear Bill ask me a question.

"Khyri."

"Excuse me?"

"What do you think you'll be doing tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. I may just sit around and write a song or something."

"You did bring your guitar, didn't you?"

"I did. I also have to unpack my bags."

"You have much to unpack," he said.

"I know, it will probably take me a whole day."

"You should rest," GAP suggested. "You all have had a long and eventful day."

If only she knew exactly how eventful.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

I was lying on my bed picking on my guitar, just fiddling with what sounded good as a potential song, when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I said, as I continued picking.

Rey bounded into my room. "Okay, so give me the real deets," she said with her eyebrow raised.

I beamed and gushed fully to my little sister. She was squealing by the end of my story.

"Oh, my gosh, I can't believe you caught the attention of Nile fricking Borran!"

"I know, right? I'm freaking out about this." I just looked at her expectantly.

She knew exactly what it meant. "I'm on it," she smiled as she pulled out her phone.

She went to the mp3 player on there and selected one of This Way's songs.

"My, God, their voices are incredible!" I moaned in contentment.

"They are amazing."

"Let me guess which song this is..." I thought about it, "_My Hope_?" I guessed.

"Correct," she smiled and I smiled with her.

"Yay!"

"You should learn the lyrics to the rest of their songs."

"I know them, I just wanted to surprise you with it."

"You know the songs, but you can't get their names right?"

"Don't judge me. Besides, I'm getting better at it. I finally realized that it was Leif that I kept calling Robbie."

She chuckled, "At least you figured it out."

"Ha ha," I smiled.

I love that my sister and I are so close. We've been this way since we were kids. Back when we used to share a bedroom, back when my daddy was still alive, we used to have our twin beds pushed together and when our parents would leave us to go to sleep, we'd talk to each other just like this under the covers. I think our mom-mom started us out being so close. She used to tell us that when no one else in the world would be there for us, our family would be. She would tell us that a bond between sisters is one of strongest things on Earth, and that we were blessed that God had given us each other, never to take each other for granted. Sure, she and I fight, fist fighting and verbally, but we always make up within the hour- never fails. We love each other more than anything else in the world. And for that, I'm grateful.

"Do you think you'll see each other again?" she asked.

"Probably. This town is too small for us not to run into each other again, it's not like Salisbury."

"That's true. Everything over here is so compact and close together."

"I'm not used to this, being able to walk to places so close to each other," I admitted.

"It's weird. What are we going to do here for a whole summer? We'll blow through the attractions within a few days."

"I have no clue. A couple weeks, I could understand, but a whole summer...?"

"We'll find something to do. Besides, we have Mallory. She can probably show us around good spots."

"We can probably visit other places!" I said hopefully. "She lives in London, plus, she's spent her summers here her whole life, right? She'll probably take us to other places in the UK!"

"I'm sure she will."

I yawned, jet lag and alcohol making me sleepy.

"Go to bed," Rey laughed.

"Goodnight, I love you," I said as I hugged and kissed her.

"Goodnight, love you, sweet dreams," She said as she headed out of the room.

"Sweet dreams."

I turned on the This Way album that I had downloaded, and plugged my phone into its dock. I turned off my nightstand lights, and fell asleep to the sounds of This Way.

When I woke up to my alarm clock it was eleven in the morning. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, got dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, and went downstairs to the dining hall.

There was a nice spread of foods for breakfast and my family was sitting down to eat.

"Nice of you to join us for brunch, Khyri," GAP said as she sipped on sparkling water.

"Did I oversleep?" I asked as I loaded cream cheese on a bagel.

GAP looked horrified, which made me smile on the inside. "Just a tid," she said before she took a delicate bite of toast and jam.

Mallory, Rey, and I shared a look and all stifled giggles.

"Reyghan," Mallory started, dabbing her mouth with her napkin, "Would you like to go golfing with me today?"

"Sure," Rey smiled.

"Wanna come, Khyri?" Mallory offered.

I shook my head, "Na, I think I'm gonna stick to doing what I had planned last night. Thanks for inviting me, though."

"If you finish early, you can always join us," she relented.

"Bill, you should show Caroll around the garden," GAP said.

"I was going to, but that is for tomorrow. I was going to show her around today."

"Hmm..." GAP sighed.

After breakfast, everyone went their own separate ways. I trudged myself up the staircase to the east wing and went to my room.

I began writing a song to the tune I had come up with the night before. After playing it through the third time I realized that the lyrics were about Nile. I promptly discarded my guitar to the stand I had brought with me in the corner of the room. I put my songbook away into the top drawer of the right nightstand.

I was pretty upset with myself at how quickly I had started getting into this guy. I set off to meticulously refolding all of my clothes and arranging them by color, design, and seasonal thickness. Then I arranged all of my make-up, lotions, and perfumes at the vanity. Then rearranged them.

After that, I got mad and surfed Twitter and Facebook. Once I got bored of that, I Skyped with one of my best friends, Vanessa.

"Ness, it is so boring here. I've unpacked and rearranged my things twice. I don't know what to do with myself!" I whined.

"Then what's that glow on your face?" she observed.

Getting defensive I said, "What glow? There is no glow!"

"Yeah, right. I know you. Who's the guy?" her eyebrows wiggled.

"Someone I'm trying not to think about," I relented.

"I know. Or else you wouldn't be arranging and rearranging things. Spill."

"I can't yet. We just met yesterday. I'm trying not to get into him. It could be bad."

"What's the worth of love being so valuable if you can't lose it?"

"I never said I was in love with him."

"No, no, I know. I just want you to keep it in the back of your mind. Is he someone worth not obsessing over?"

"He is, Ness. He's kind and funny. He was sweet even after I busted my ass in front of him."

She burst out laughing she turned cherry red in the face, it being deeply contrasted by her light blonde hair. She barely managed to breathe, "Khy Khy, you have to tell me how the hell that happened?"

"We started walking to each other in the pub and I slipped and knocked myself unconscious."

She was heaving with fits of laughter.

"Thanks, thanks a lot," I sighed, though I smiled because it was pretty funny.

"And he didn't snub you after that?"

"No, he was a gentleman and bought me another drink."

"How'd he know you, anyway?"

"We went bowling earlier in the day and we saw each other from across the street."

"That's so romantic!" she squealed.

"Wait! I wasn't gonna talk about this!"

Vanessa laughed, "You know you wouldn't have been able to resist long, even if I hadn't gotten you to talk about it."

"Shut up," I chuckled.

"So, since you're talking about him, mind telling me his name?"

"His name is Nile."

"Nile...that sounds so...international- you know, other than the river."

I laughed.

"Well, don't forget to Google his name. Make sure he's not a criminal or anything."

"I'm pretty sure he's not," I grinned.

She chuckled, "You never know! Even cute guys can be crims, Khyri."

"No, I know that. We've seen plenty of slasher movies."

"Don't get killed. You know they'll bypass 'sleeping with the fishes' and go right to 'snoozing with the sheep'."

I laughed, "That would be the LAST thing I'd want. God, I've never seen so many sheep at once in my life!"

"Ness!" her sister, Lyla, called for her. "Ness, you've got to take me to volleyball camp. Oh, hey, Khy Khy," She waved to me through the screen.

"Hey, Ly," I waved back.

"Well, I guess that means that I have to go. Say hi to Nile for me," Ness beamed.

"I'll be sure not to do that. Love you, bye." I chuckled.

She shook her head but laughed too, "Love you, bye."

I signed off of Skype and the laptop altogether and lied back on my bed. Staring up at the ceiling long enough caused me to drift off to sleep.

When I woke up again, my phone read that it was six in the evening. I went downstairs for dinner, trying not to be chided again. I ate my food in silence as I listened to everyone else tell stories about their day.

I went up to my room after I excused myself after finishing my meal. I added some light make-up to my face and pulled my hair up in a tight, high, ponytail. I rolled up the sleeves of the cheerleading T-shirt I was wearing and put a hair tie on the back of the shirt to tighten it and rolled it up some for comfort. I also rolled down the cheer shorts that I had on at the waist. Feeling lithe and ready to exercise, I put on socks and sneakers, and my ear buds in my ear, playing my workout playlist, and exited the manor for a nice jog.

The cool evening air felt amazing on my warm skin. It felt exhilarating to breathe in the freshness around me. I traveled up and down the streets of Mullingar, laying out a path that I would follow throughout my stay. I paced around to take a breather when I decided that I had reached the point where I would follow the complicated route back.

"You run?" someone called to me over my music.

I froze in my tracks. I knew that voice. The voice of someone it couldn't possibly be. I turned slowly to see Nile standing at the front of a door.

God had to be kidding me. How is it that I just happened to stop jogging at the one place I would find Nile?

I sighed in frustration, pulling my ear buds out, and tried to dab off the trickles of sweat on my brow.

I never thought that I'd see him out on my jog. I thought he'd have been out in a pub or something, which is why when I was going past them, I made sure to speed up my pace. But nooo, I landed right in front of him!

"I jog," I said to him.

His blue eyes glanced over me. "You're a cheerleader?"

"I was when I was in high school."

"So you're a late eighteen," he deduced.

I nodded, "I'll be nineteen in September."

"Oh, me too."

I smiled with a raised eyebrow, "Really?"

"13 September."

"September 29th," I smiled.

"Want to come in for some water?" he offered.

"I'm alright. I should probably be getting back. No one knows that I left."

He nodded and I started to slowly walk away. Just as I was about to put in my second ear bud, he called, "Can I have your number?"

Oh, my gosh, that accent made me melt.

I smiled coyly at him, "Why do you want it?"

"So I can call you," he grinned back.

I started to turn and walk again. "If we see each other again, I'll give you my number. Deal?" I called to him.

"Deal. We'll see each other again, Khyri," he promised.

I looked back at him, shocked to my core by the conviction in his voice. I barely managed to say, "Bye, Nile."

I put in my ear bud and began jogging away and I heard him yell a "Bye, Khyri."


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

This is horrible! Absolutely and completely horrible!

I'm falling for this guy that I barely even know. Nile has me entranced, and the bad part is that I like it. That's not how things work for me. I don't just go falling for random guys that are super sweet, ask for my number, and assure me that we'll see each other again. That doesn't happen to me!

Jogging through the dark, I found that I had made my way to a pasture. I sat down on the plush green grass and started breathing hard. I had my knees up to my chest, with my forehead resting on them when I began shaking. Before I knew it, the breaths had turned into sobs that turned into wailing tears.

I didn't know why I was crying. I hadn't been one for crying since my daddy passed. But I couldn't stop myself. It was like all this anguish, all these pent-up feelings just had to escape at that moment. There was nothing I could do but let them come and pass.

By the time it was all over, I was lying on my back and gazing up at the night sky. I was searching out constellations that I knew, smiling as I recognized them. Tears still ran from my eyes, but they weren't as powerful anymore. It was a relief having all of that out of me. I had a new sense of being light and happy.

I heard footsteps on the road cutting through the pasture and I turned my head to look. He was walking right toward me, with his hands buried in his jacket pockets.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" I asked.

"Yes, you are."

"I meant the stars, Nile."

He took a spot next to me and lied down. "Those are too, I guess."

I smiled. I wiped the tears on the left side of my face away.

He caught me in the action and gently thumbed the ones on my right cheek.

"I told you, I'd find you again."

I sat up smiling and nodded. "You did."

He followed me and sat up, "Why are you cryin' out here?"

"I don't know, I didn't expect it to happen, but I'm glad it did; I feel a lot better now. How'd you find me?"

"The way you took off, I knew you didn't go home."

"So...you followed me here?"

"Kinda," he smiled shyly.

"Guess that means I owe you my number?"

"Only if you wanna give it to me."

"Hand me your phone," I grinned.

He beamed as he passed me his phone. I entered in my number and saved it in his contacts.

"So that's how you spell your name. I've been wonderin'."

I giggled and shook my head, lying back down.

I felt him studying my face as I stared up at the sky.

"Khyri, what's your last name?"

"Marrin. My name is Khyri Ryne Marrin."

"Lovely name."

"Thank you. I love that it's kind of unique. Not too crazy, except for the spelling, but it's special," I breathed. "Lie down?"

He nodded and lay back down next to me.

I smiled, my heart was fluttering around in my chest, and my breath hitched.

I asked, "Will you really call me?"

"'Course. Will you pick up?"

"Depends. I'm not much for talking on the phone. I know I'll respond to a text," I yawned softly.

"I'll text you, then. I'm not sure how I'll take it if you don't answer my call."

"Just for you, I _may_ answer it," I said as I gently knocked my hand against his as a joke.

When I moved my hand back to my side, I felt one of his fingers on mine.

I quickly looked at him and as a gasp passed through my lips, but I didn't retract my hand. As he looked into my eyes, I think that was what he was searching for, whether or not I'd react badly to his touch.

He slowly moved a couple more fingers over mine. All I could do was beam at his forwardness. Unlike guys back at home in the U.S. (or, at least, in Salisbury), I knew what I was getting with Nile. He didn't play a game or beat around the bush. I really felt safe with that. And that fact scared me because I shouldn't have been so comfortable with a stranger so soon.

Before too long, but also too soon, his fingers were entwined with mine.

I felt like I had found home while holding onto his hand. Like happiness and joy and freshly baked sugar cookies with hot chocolate.

I just knew that somewhere, a star writer was carving out this picture of us somewhere in the cosmos.

"I should be gettin' you home."

"What?" I was surprised that he had broken the silence. It was perfect.

"Your family'll start worryin' if you don't get back."

"I want to stay here," I said without thinking.

He laughed and sat up. "C'mon."

He helped me to my feet and we walked the distance hand-in-hand to the manor. He stopped at the front door and stood facing me.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" I asked.

He tugged my arm closer to him and when I stepped into it, he pulled me into a hug. My arms fit perfectly around his torso with my head resting on his chest as I took in the overwhelmingly spicy scent of him. It made my mouth water because it smelled so good. I was intoxicated.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Sort of," I smiled.

He kissed me gently on my cheek.

"We'll see each other tomorrow," I said, knowing it was true.

I opened the front door to the manor and reluctantly, oh, how reluctantly, let go of his hand and entered. I gave him a quick smile as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.

"Where've you been?" Mallory eyebrowed me with playful suspicion as she was passing by the room and saw that I had just gotten in.

Apparently Rey, Bill, and mom had been sitting near the wall where I didn't see them, because Bill called out to me, "Yes, where have you been?" and made me jump halfway out of my skin.

"Gosh!" I squealed.

Everyone laughed at me. I was well known around my family's house for my inappropriate jumpiness.

"Oh, I was just out for a jog," I shrugged off, crossing the room to its exit into the passageway.

"At nine-fifty at night?" Bill asked.

"I got a little lost. I found my way back though!" I smiled.

"Be sure to be more careful next time," mom said.

I nodded that I would, and dashed up the staircase and to my room.

I hopped into the shower, washing off the day and the jog. I doused myself with spicy perfume while in the shower and then sprayed myself again after drying off. Then I moisturized with the same scented body butter.

Changing into a cami and night shorts and putting my hair back up into a messy bun, I sang along wholeheartedly to This Way's _Certain Somehthing_. I was dancing around my room to the song in the way people tend to do when they know that no one else is around to see them when I heard the "Mockingjay" tone go off on my phone.

I ran to pick up my phone as I did a twist in the air and landed on my back on the bed. I gazed up at my phone and looked at a message from a number that I didn't recognize.

**_Hello. It's Nile._** the message read.

I giggled to myself, so giddy that he had text me. **_Hi._** I replied.

A few seconds later he asked, **_What are you up to?_**

I said, **_Just getting ready for bed._**

_ **I'll let you go to sleep, then**, _he replied.

**_You sure?_** I asked.

He sent, **_You should get some sleep, Khyri. Goodnight._**

I smiled at his message and replied, **_Goodnight._**

I made sure to save his number in my contacts as I lay down to rest. I read some of a book on my Kindle and then fell asleep.

I dreamed of Nile.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"So, what were you really doing out so late last night?" Mallory asked me after she and Rey had burst into my room at nine in the morning. They both eyed me suspiciously with wicked grins plastered on their faces.

"I was jogging, as usual, and I just happened to end my trail at Nile's house. His house! He asked for my number, and I told him if we ever met again, he could have it. Then, I don't know what happed but I ran to the sheep and started crying-"

"I don't know what's more astounding," Rey interrupted. "The fact that you ran to the damned sheep, or that you were crying!"

"Wait, why is it astounding that she was crying?" Mallory wondered.

"Because she doesn't cry, or, at least, she never admits that she cries. Even to herself," Reyghan chuckled.

"I don't cry. Last night was the first time in my life."

"Then what about that time-" Reyghan started.

I made a buzzing sound to cut her off and she laughed. "Anyway, he had followed me to the pasture."

"You didn't think it was weird?" Mallory asked.

"No, I thought it was kinda sweet. He knew something was wrong with me and that I wouldn't come home."

"Well, in that case..." she smiled.

"Anyway, we talked, he held my hand, I gave him my number. While we were out there, there was this time that we didn't even talk, we didn't have to. I've always wanted a boy who I could do that with, not constantly feel the need to talk with."

"That is a good quality," Mallory nodded.

"...And...then he gave me a goodnight kiss on the cheek."

"What?!" they both squealed in unison.

I couldn't help it, but I squealed too.

"He promised," I started, getting too excited in the moment. "He promised that we'd see each other today. And he was texting me last night."

"Where are you going to see each other?" Reyghan asked.

"I don't know, but I'm looking forward to it!"

I had just gotten dressed for the day in a darling grey dress with a thin purple belt matched with a pair of purple heels. I styled my hair in a messy bun that went perfectly with the dress, and applied girlish make-up when Bill knocked on my door to tell me that someone was here for me.

I flew down the staircase and into the main room, stopping in my tracks when I saw Nile standing at the door.

"Khyri, who is this young man?" mom asked, knowing full well who he was.

"Mom, this is Nile. Nile, this is my mom," I introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Nile."

"Nice to meet you, too," he smiled genuinely.

GAP wandered into the room slowly and deliberately. "You look...acceptable today, Khyri."

"Thank you very much, Great Aunt Persephone." I said. I still was wary around this woman, not knowing how to take her, and being slightly afraid of her at the same time, but also, strangely craving her approval.

"Lady Persephone," Nile acknowledged with a reverent bow of his head.

It was strange to see someone bow to her, but I also saw why. She had this overwhelming presence of authority about her.

"Who are you?" she asked looking down the nose of her glasses though she was tiny, standing at about my height.

"My name is Nile Borran."

"Why are you here, Nile?"

"I'm here for Khyri."

"She's not allowed to miss brunch with the family."

I looked at her with a pained expression.

She caved just a bit and reluctantly added, "You may join us, if that suits you."

I smiled at him and he grinned back, not looking anywhere else but at me, "That suits me."

After a few moments, I noticed that the others were just staring at Nile and I gazing at each other.

"Brunch is served," Jason announced, cutting through the bewilderment of the elder adults at Nile and me.

Everyone gathered into the dining hall, I hung back to walk hand-in-hand with Nile.

Reyghan and Mallory were smiling like fools who had, apparently, seen the whole thing, mom was suppressing a smile, Bill looked concerned, and GAP seemed mildly irritated.

I whispered to Nile, "You sure you want to stay here? Meeting my family so soon... You'll be dining with the wolves."

"You have to stay here, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Then, I'm staying," he confirmed.

I smiled as we took our seats at the table, Nile and I next to each other.

"So, Nile, do you work yet?" Bill asked.

"Er, kinda. I'm in this band, This Way. I love it, so I wouldn't really consider it work."

"Your band is your job?" GAP stared with eyes like knives.

"They're actually pretty successful, so far, Great Aunt Persephone. They're world famous, blowing up the charts. Both Reyghan and I have their full album."

"I bought it too," Mallory admitted. "Last night," she shyly smiled.

I gave her a grateful look. "See? They really are great musicians."

GAP sized him up. "Do you sing?"

"I do," he admitted.

"You will sing for me sometime," she commanded.

"I will be sure to. Thank you for the opportunity."

"So, Nile, since you're famous, you must be dating many girls?"

"Bill!" I gasped.

"No, no, it's a fair question, Khyri," Nile consented. "Honestly, sir, I'm always lookin' for someone special, out in our audiences and things like that, but I never seem to find her there. So, no, I'm not datin' anyone."

I sighed with relief under my breath.

"You think you've found it in Khyri?"

"Bill," I said. My tone said it all and put an end to the questioning of Nile.

Everyone continued to eat, and I was in a mood, so angry that I was close to seeing red. I couldn't believe that my family had treated him like that. Actually, I wasn't shocked at all by GAP, more so Bill. He'd never been like that before. Probably because I'd never brought a guy home with him in the family before. I'd never had a father to judge my dates before, and now that I have one, I was kind of glad my daddy wasn't there for that bit, but then I instantly took that thought back. Bill was absolutely no exception for my dad, but he was pretty good.

I smiled slightly and, as always, Reyghan noticed. "Well, she's all better," she smiled.

Mallory chuckled and ducked her head. I started laughing and then Reyghan started laughing, then Mallory started laughing. Even mom started chuckling a bit.

Nile grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze under the table. As we wrapped up the meal, we all traveled back into the main room.

"So, Nile," Reyghan started.

"What do you plan on doing with our Khy Khy?" Mallory finished.

"I thought we could just hang out today, start out slow?"

"I'd like that." I said.

"So, y'all are just gonna stay here?" Rey asked.

"Or at mine?" he suggested.

"Here's fine," mom chimed in from the other room.

"Of, course," Nile agreed.

Rey and Mallory laughed, I just shook my head.

"Let them have some privacy," GAP suggested to everyone else. She told me, "Take him up to your suite, dearie. You have a box up there. I'm sure there's something on the tellie you can watch."

"Aunt Perseph-"

"No, William, trust your stepdaughter. She wouldn't dare try anything in my house," she sent a glare my way.

I looked at Nile, knowing and feeling that I had turned a deep red underneath my skin, "And on that note, we're going to your house," I decided.

I grabbed his hand and albeit pulled him out of the manor, having grabbed a set of car keys on my way out. With no clue which car the set belonged to, I had to hit the alarm to find it. Luckily, I had grabbed Mallory's keys. I knew that for sure she wouldn't care if I stole her car for the day.

"I am so sorry for my screwed up family!" I apologized in earnest when Nile and I were safely in the car and pulling out of the drive.

"It's okay."

"They've never acted like that before. Well I don't know if Bill has, and I'm certain that GAP has, but mom and Rey never have before"

"Who's GAP?" he chuckled.

"Oh, that's what Reyghan and I call Great Aunt Persephone, you know, whenever we're nowhere near her."

He laughed. "Your family is fine, Khyri. It wasn't anythin' that I didn't expect. The other boys get it from the girls that they date's families if they meet them, it was my turn."

"I still don't get how you can be so sweet." I marveled as I cruised down the street. All I knew was to follow the path that I had jogged the night before.

"Why are you goin' all around?" he chuckled.

"I don't know any other way to your house than the way I had jogged there last night," I giggled.

He laughed harder and nodded, "Well then."

I pulled up to his flat and parked the car. It was so weird to me having to drive on the left side of the street. I almost instinctively drifted over to the right a couple of times when I would turn corners and Nile would laugh at me.

We got out of the car and I followed him to the door and inside, up to his quarters. The flat was boyishly messy in the way that it was the boyish way of being "straightened up". I followed him farther inside and he led me to a couch to sit on.

"Would you like anything to drink?" He asked politely.

"Iced water?"

"Okay," he turned to walk to the kitchen to get me the drink I had asked for.

I looked up at the TV and saw that it was tuned into BBC One. Luckily, I love watching British TV shows, or else I'd be completely lost over here. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was one of my favorite shows, Merlin. I sat back and watched as Merlin called Arthur some rude names and laughed at Arthur's reactions as they rode horseback through a wood.

Nile walked back in with my drink and handed it to me, taking a seat close, yet, too far away from me.

"Do you know of this show?" he raised an eyebrow.

"F'course," I replied like it was obvious. "I watch this show back at home on BBC America...and Netflix."

"Do you like history?" he asked before taking a bite of cheese pizza.

"My fifth favorite subject!" I smiled.

"And the others?"

"English, Biology, Choir, and Orchestra," I told him.

"Choir? You sing?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Yeah, but my voice isn't anything big," I admitted.

"I bet it is, and your bein' shy 'bout it."

"Well we can't all be recording artists, as much as we'd like to be."

"See?! You want to sing."

"I'm not shy, when I'm on stage performing. I only get scared when I'm in front of a few people."

"So...singin' in a stadium, full of thousands of people..."

"Wouldn't bother me in the least," I chuckled.

"Wow," he breathed.

"Anyway, enough about me singing..."

"...For the moment," he insisted.

"Sure," I relented. "I've always loved the Arthurian story."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I really got into it in my 12th grade year, though. We never really studied it, it was just mentioned by my teacher in passing, but I started reading and watching things that had to do with it."

"To me, the King Arthur story is just normal legend. Somethin' that's always been there, you know?"

"Kinda like crabs from back home."

He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Where I live, eating crabs all the time is no big deal. We harvest so many crabs a year in our area, it's the mascot of an entire town called Crisfield. But then, I see on TV that other places don't have crabs around all the time like we do, that it's kinda a rarity."

"They are."

"See, I grew up with crabs. I saw once, on some commercial, a guy trying to crack open a crab with a device or something and laughed at it 'cause where I live we learn how to crack open crabs and take them apart bit-by-bit with our bare hands." I saw his face and giggled. "It sounds weird, but for me, it's normal."

He laughed. "I like the turn you took to foods."

"I love how you're eating again, right after you just had brunch," I laughed too.

"I'm a hungry, person!" he burst.

I laughed harder, "I can tell!"

By the end of it, we were falling over each other in fits of laughter, laughing at nothing in particular, but too giddy to stop too soon.

When it was all over, we were both out of breath and tangled up together. (Not like that, yet, if that's what you're thinking.) No, we had just laughed ourselves out. I had fallen over to the side available, across his lap, my body slightly facing his abdomen, my back over his lap, my left hand holding my stomach because it had been constricted so tightly from laughter a new muscle must have formed, and the right tangled with one of his arms. He ended up slightly leaning over me, laughing position, one arm entwined with mine, the other trying to keep me from rolling off the couch and onto the floor.

I just smiled up at him and we freed our arms from the other. He used his free arm to gently run his fingers through my thick hair that had burst free of its elastic. It was calming, having his fingers comb through my wavy tresses.

As I looked at him, I noticed the green flecks in his eyes, and the way they shone when he was happy. His spicy scent was so enticing to me that I felt a fire grow inside of me. He must have seen it too, because he took it as an opportunity to gently hold a kiss to the button of my nose. When he pulled away a soft giggle escaped my lips. A slow grin grew on his face. The way he was gazing at me was like glimpsing a piece of Heaven fallen to Earth. His face shone so brightly with joy that he looked like a light angel. It was the moment I had been dreaming about for years to have with a guy, and I wasn't going to let it go.

I cautiously moved a hand around his neck...and that was all it took. His face moved ever so slowly toward mine and he grazed my lips lightly with his. Then I guess that he was emboldened again because his lips fell to mine a second time with more determination.

I don't care what anyone says, whether it's scientific or not, I saw fricking fireworks. Hundreds upon hundreds went up in the few short seconds that our lips were connected. And a fricking choir was there singing in beautiful harmonies above the sound of sword fighting in the background on the TV. It may have been a hallucination, but dammit if it wasn't the best hallucination in my young life.

He sat up just as slowly as he had made his way down. My heart was pounding out of my chest and I'm pretty sure that the whole world could hear it. I sat up warily, not sure of what to do next. My hair had fallen down around my shoulders and I swept it up and over to one side. Nile softly fingered it and ran his fingers through the ends.

"Your hair is so soft."

I smiled. Just that statement had made me completely relaxed again and I sunk back into the cushions on the couch. He wrapped his arm around me so that his hand came out to hold onto mine. He smiled contentedly down at me and kissed me on the top of my head.

We focused on the TV, but I was hyper aware of him. His breaths, when I felt his eyes on me, when he would minutely move his fingers.

When Merlin went off, some show I'd never heard of came on, but I didn't want to move from where I was. I was more content than I had been in a very long time, safe and soundly wrapped in Nile's arms.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Nile?" a man called from a distance.

"Who's that?" I asked, gently raising my head. Oh, my gosh! I had fallen asleep to that show! I'd fallen asleep on Nile!

That kind of crap was acceptable in a relationship, right? But then it hit me like a ton of glass shards: We weren't in a relationship. That harsh fact made me want to cry...almost. But it was a rude awakening. I had fallen for a guy that wasn't even my boyfriend. So, did that make him no more than a _CRUSH_? It felt like so much more than just that, but then I was slammed again: We'd only known each other for a couple of days. I'd fallen in three days!

"Hey, dad," Nile said as his father peeked his head inside the room.

"Hey, Nile- oh! Who's this?"

"Good afternoon, sir," I said, getting up to shake his hand. I made sure to wear my most charming and cutest smile. (I tended to automatically do it whenever I met anyone's parents or grandparents.) "I'm Khyri."

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

"Thank you," I grinned.

"Dad," Nile groaned.

"Fine, I get the hint," he obliged. "It was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you, too."

Nile's dad left the room without another word and bustled around in another.

I walked over and sat next to Nile; he grabbed my hand again and gently kissed the back of it, holding on steadfast.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," I chuckled, embarrassed.

"It was fine. I took a little nap too," he admitted.

"You did?"

"After seein' how cute and peaceful you looked, I had to try to see you in my dreams," he wagged his eyebrows.

I burst out laughing, "What a line!"

"What are you doin' tomorrow?"

"Mallory mentioned shopping. I don't need more clothes, I brought too many here. But I'm still gonna go," I chuckled.

"Girls."

"Hey, hey, hey, I know plenty of guys who spend way too much time and money on clothes. Not just girls."

"That is true."

I was snuggling with a guy that wasn't my boyfriend.

Those thoughts just kept running through my head. Pounding me into walls and knocking my breath out.

Okay, so, yes, I have experience with guys. I'm actually quite a flirt. But I don't do anything with guys until I'm dating them. I may kiss on the cheek, and maybe hold hands with a guy, but not any farther than that. For the most part, I'm cool around guys. Like I had told my mom before, I keep my heart under lock and key.

Somehow, Nile found the key, and was working his way to opening the lock.

"What are you thinkin' about?" Nile asked.

"What?" I asked, surprised out of my reverie.

"Your eyebrows are furrowin' and you look worried or concerned."

"I was just thinking about...you and me."

"What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath, deciding that if I ever did have a chance at having a future with Nile, I didn't want us to have secrets. So I chose what scared me the most- the truth.

"I was just thinking about how fast we're moving. I'm not used to it. But I like it! That's the problem."

"How's it a problem if you like it?"

"I usually don't do most of the stuff that we've done until I'm in a relationship. We've only known each other a couple of days, and I'm so into you. It's scaring me."

"I didn't know if you wanted a relationship or anything since you're just here for the summer."

"Do you want one? You have far more at stake here than I do," I said, thinking about his career. Would he really give up having all the girls he wanted in the world; just for me?

"Khyri, I'm into you. _Way_ into you. I want to be with you," he said, looking right into my eyes, I knew that his words were as far from a lie as the Sun is to Pluto.

"I feel the same," I confessed.

"I know this'll sound childish, but, will you be my girlfriend?" he looked so expectantly happy.

I gushed, "Of, course!"

He pulled my torso toward him in a hug. Both he and I were grinning from ear-to-ear.

"You have to get back for dinner, right?" Nile asked me.

"Yeah, I'm not allowed to miss or be late to dinner or brunch."

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" He asked, walking me out to Mallory's car.

"I don't have anything tomorrow night."

"Well, make sure you don't eat much at dinner with your family, I wanna take you out for dinner."

"I'll beg GAP to let me go," I smiled.

He leaned into me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He smiled as he leaned his head down to kiss me goodbye and goodnight. His lips were incredibly soft against my own and I valued that. After several seconds, we both moved our heads apart and smiled at each other. He tucked my hair behind my ears and kissed my forehead in the most caring way. The care that he showed made me blush.

"See you tomorrow," I said as I climbed into the car.

"See you tomorrow," He called as he walked toward his house.

I slowly pulled away and waved to him as he walked back inside.

_I have a date tomorrow_, I thought.

I have a new boyfriend: Nile Borran.

I smiled like the Cheshire cat all the way home.

I walked into the house, and everyone was downstairs in the main room, ready to pounce.

"Yes?" I smiled as I walked into the room.

Out of nowhere, Reyghan and Mallory started squealing. They're girls, my sister and stepsister, they knew.

"Are you serious?!" Reyghan asked/squealed.

I hadn't said a thing about it, and I loved that I didn't have to to Reyghan, and I love that I have Mallory now. I didn't think that it would happen before, but she has fit in with Reyghan and I like we had been with her since birth.

"Very," I said. "I told him how much I like him and then he said that he wanted to be with me and then he asked me to be his girlfriend. And I said YES!" We all jumped up and down squealing like banshees.

"Cut down on that noise," GAP complained.

"Yes, Great Aunt Persephone," we said in unison.

"I'm so happy for you, Khy," Mallory said with excitement bursting out of every word.

"Thank you, Mal," I said, truly grateful.

"So...did you...?" Rey started.

"Yes!" I squealed, just not at the frequency that I had before for GAP's sake.

They squealed quieter as well. "And...How was it?" Mallory asked.

"Perfect. Amazing. Magical. Stupendous," I giggled.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you there," Bill enforced. "How was what?"

"The kiss, dad," Mallory said, like it was obvious.

"Your lips shouldn't have been kissing him so soon," mom chided.

"Mom, you and Bill," I said, leaving it at that. But as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew there was going to be an argument.

"We are adults," she tried to point out.

"So am I! I'm eighteen! How are Nile and I kissing so soon any different than you and Bill getting married three months after you met in person for the first time? Excuse me, getting engaged on your second date."

Mom just yelled at me for being inconsiderate and rude and that I didn't understand things. I always tuned her out when she was screaming because whenever I'm yelled at, I completely shut down.

From the few stray words that I picked up, I knew that I did understand things. I wasn't a kid anymore, I was a young woman. As a young woman, I could make my choices for myself; I really could do whatever I wanted. But I chose not to. There was far worse that I could be doing than kissing Nile.

As she continued to rant, I made my way upstairs to my bedroom; she was past noticing what I did now. I knew she'd come upstairs later, after she realized that her yelling at me was pointless and that I was the one who had made a point.

Rey, Mallory and I made our way up to Mallory's bedroom, which is right next to mine. Her room was the same as mine and Rey's except that her color scheme was black and royal blue.

"I'm sorry for what I said down there," I apologized to Mallory.

"No, you were right. Our parents got married really fast, how are they going to judge you on how fast your relationship moves. They have no right."

I nodded.

"So, to lighter things..." Rey started. "Tell us everything," she squealed.

I delved into everything from the time we left the house to when he kissed me goodnight.

The three of us squealed and laughed at ourselves.

"Nile seems like he isn't playing around with you. This boy is falling," Mallory observed.

"I'm falling for him too. I've never had a boyfriend like him before."

"_I've_ never had a boyfriend like him before," Mallory chuckled.

"Dinner is served," Jason called to us from the other side of the door.

We got off of Mallory's bed, and headed downstairs to the dining hall.

A bit into dinner, mom apologized, "Khy, I'm so sorry I blew up at you."

"It's okay," I assured her.

"Okay, so tell me what happened."

"He asked me to be his girlfriend," I told her.

"And?"

"And I said yes."

"Well, how did it come about?"

"He and I were just talking, and then he noticed me thinking hard on something. I told him that I was thinking about him and me. He said that he wanted to be with me and I told him the same, then he asked me out."

Mom squeaked.

"If one more person in this house makes the sound of a rodent..." GAP threatened, absently.

"So, now you have a boyfriend!" mom said.

"I know," I beamed. "Oh, Great Aunt Persephone, I was wondering if I may be excused from dinner tomorrow night. Nile wanted to take me out to dinner for a date."

"You will attend dinner," she commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," I nodded.

I went back to eating my dinner, now in silence, with my spirits slightly dampened.

After I excused myself from the table, I went upstairs to change to go jogging. I put on a tank top and shorts with socks and sneakers. I plugged in my ear buds and took off for town.

Today I tried to really notice the scenery of Mullingar, and I noticed that Mullingar isn't too different from Salisbury. It was like _Downtown_ Salisbury, granted, but Salisbury, nonetheless. Just jogging through the streets made me think about how much I was starting to miss my hometown. I almost stepped into a shop, but I kept jogging. I'd have enough time to stop by these stores, plenty of time to get homesick in them. Today wasn't the day for it, though. I continued to pick up speed through my jogging. Too steamed (I'm not sure whether it was good or bad) to stop for a rest, I didn't need it. I kept jogging, and made a loop at Nile's house to the other side of the street and followed that way back.

When I got back to the manor, I hopped into the shower and prepared for bed. I didn't even care that it was only nine, I was tired, and the day had worn me out with all of its twists and turns.

I did call one of my other best friends, Carsen, though, so that I could tell her everything that had happened.

"You already kissed him?!" she squealed. "That's unlike you."

"I know. This guy is getting to me, Carsen! He makes me happy though. I haven't been this happy in such a long time."

"I can see that-"

"Mommy!" Carsen's son, Bailey, called to her.

"Bailey, can you say hi to Aunt Khyri?"

"Hi, Aunt Ri!"

"Hi, Bailey Bail! How are you, sweetie?"

"Fine. I'm play-ting with my twrucks!" I could hear his trucks clinking in the background.

"You're playing with your trucks? Well choose a special one for Aunt Ri, okay?"

"O-tay!"

"I love you, Bailey," I smiled to myself.

"I love you, too, Aunt Ri."

"Anyway," Carsen said, coming back on the phone. "Try to take things slow with this guy."

"I'm trying."

"You don't think you'll be…?"

"No! Not anytime so soon. I'm not having sex with him yet."

"You never know what you'll do. You may get swept up in the passion or something."

"Yeah, well. I'm not going to get swept up in passion."

"You already have. You saw fireworks."

"So?"

I just knew she was on the other line shaking her head at me, "That means that there is a strong connection between the two of you. It could overwhelm you and you will have done it."

"I can't handle this tonight," I said honestly.

"But it's what you needed to hear."

"Ness told me what I needed to hear yesterday."

"Ness-from-your-old-high-school, Ness?" Carsen asked.

"Yeah. She just graduated."

"Oh yeah, she was a year behind us. Well, we, as your two best friends, gotta keep you straight."

I laughed, "What about Reyghan and Mallory?"

"They're good, too."

I laughed.

"Go to bed. You're talking slowly."

"Everyone keeps telling me when to go to bed, lately," I pondered.

"If we're telling you, that means that it's true. I don't want another episode of last summer where you didn't sleep for four nights straight and started hallucinating crazy shit. Get your rest."

I laughed again. "That was horrifying. But I'mma let you go. Tell Bailey and Claire I said goodnight and that I love them when it's their bedtime. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Love you, bye," I said.

"Love you, bye."

I was glad to talk to Carsen, I missed her. She was one of my friends that I would just leave the front door unlocked for her and she would let herself in while I was asleep or getting ready. Mom actually thought about getting her a house key of her own, she came over that much. She has two kids, Bailey and Claire, even though she's about 7 months older than me. I love those kids to death, I'd do anything in the world for them. Since they could talk, they've called me their aunt and I relish in that.

I sent a text to Vanessa to tell her that I had big news for her in the morning but that I was going to bed.

I turned and lay back in my bed and fell asleep, imagining that Nile was lying next to me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Nile?" a man called from a distance.

"Who's that?" I asked, gently raising my head. Oh, my gosh! I had fallen asleep to that show! I'd fallen asleep on Nile!

That kind of crap was acceptable in a relationship, right? But then it hit me like a ton of glass shards: We weren't in a relationship. That harsh fact made me want to cry...almost. But it was a rude awakening. I had fallen for a guy that wasn't even my boyfriend. So, did that make him no more than a _CRUSH_? It felt like so much more than just that, but then I was slammed again: We'd only known each other for a couple of days. I'd fallen in three days!

"Hey, dad," Nile said as his father peeked his head inside the room.

"Hey, Nile- oh! Who's this?"

"Good afternoon, sir," I said, getting up to shake his hand. I made sure to wear my most charming and cutest smile. (I tended to automatically do it whenever I met anyone's parents or grandparents.) "I'm Khyri."

"What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

"Thank you," I grinned.

"Dad," Nile groaned.

"Fine, I get the hint," he obliged. "It was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you, too."

Nile's dad left the room without another word and bustled around in another.

I walked over and sat next to Nile; he grabbed my hand again and gently kissed the back of it, holding on steadfast.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," I chuckled, embarrassed.

"It was fine. I took a little nap too," he admitted.

"You did?"

"After seein' how cute and peaceful you looked, I had to try to see you in my dreams," he wagged his eyebrows.

I burst out laughing, "What a line!"

"What are you doin' tomorrow?"

"Mallory mentioned shopping. I don't need more clothes, I brought too many here. But I'm still gonna go," I chuckled.

"Girls."

"Hey, hey, hey, I know plenty of guys who spend way too much time and money on clothes. Not just girls."

"That is true."

I was snuggling with a guy that wasn't my boyfriend.

Those thoughts just kept running through my head. Pounding me into walls and knocking my breath out.

Okay, so, yes, I have experience with guys. I'm actually quite a flirt. But I don't do anything with guys until I'm dating them. I may kiss on the cheek, and maybe hold hands with a guy, but not any farther than that. For the most part, I'm cool around guys. Like I had told my mom before, I keep my heart under lock and key.

Somehow, Nile found the key, and was working his way to opening the lock.

"What are you thinkin' about?" Nile asked.

"What?" I asked, surprised out of my reverie.

"Your eyebrows are furrowin' and you look worried or concerned."

"I was just thinking about...you and me."

"What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath, deciding that if I ever did have a chance at having a future with Nile, I didn't want us to have secrets. So I chose what scared me the most- the truth.

"I was just thinking about how fast we're moving. I'm not used to it. But I like it! That's the problem."

"How's it a problem if you like it?"

"I usually don't do most of the stuff that we've done until I'm in a relationship. We've only known each other a couple of days, and I'm so into you. It's scaring me."

"I didn't know if you wanted a relationship or anything since you're just here for the summer."

"Do you want one? You have far more at stake here than I do," I said, thinking about his career. Would he really give up having all the girls he wanted in the world; just for me?

"Khyri, I'm into you. _Way_ into you. I want to be with you," he said, looking right into my eyes, I knew that his words were as far from a lie as the Sun is to Pluto.

"I feel the same," I confessed.

"I know this'll sound childish, but, will you be my girlfriend?" he looked so expectantly happy.

I gushed, "Of, course!"

He pulled my torso toward him in a hug. Both he and I were grinning from ear-to-ear.

"You have to get back for dinner, right?" Nile asked me.

"Yeah, I'm not allowed to miss or be late to dinner or brunch."

"What are you doing tomorrow night?" He asked, walking me out to Mallory's car.

"I don't have anything tomorrow night."

"Well, make sure you don't eat much at dinner with your family, I wanna take you out for dinner."

"I'll beg GAP to let me go," I smiled.

He leaned into me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He smiled as he leaned his head down to kiss me goodbye and goodnight. His lips were incredibly soft against my own and I valued that. After several seconds, we both moved our heads apart and smiled at each other. He tucked my hair behind my ears and kissed my forehead in the most caring way. The care that he showed made me blush.

"See you tomorrow," I said as I climbed into the car.

"See you tomorrow," He called as he walked toward his house.

I slowly pulled away and waved to him as he walked back inside.

_I have a date tomorrow_, I thought.

I have a new boyfriend: Nile Borran.

I smiled like the Cheshire cat all the way home.

I walked into the house, and everyone was downstairs in the main room, ready to pounce.

"Yes?" I smiled as I walked into the room.

Out of nowhere, Reyghan and Mallory started squealing. They're girls, my sister and stepsister, they knew.

"Are you serious?!" Reyghan asked/squealed.

I hadn't said a thing about it, and I loved that I didn't have to to Reyghan, and I love that I have Mallory now. I didn't think that it would happen before, but she has fit in with Reyghan and I like we had been with her since birth.

"Very," I said. "I told him how much I like him and then he said that he wanted to be with me and then he asked me to be his girlfriend. And I said YES!" We all jumped up and down squealing like banshees.

"Cut down on that noise," GAP complained.

"Yes, Great Aunt Persephone," we said in unison.

"I'm so happy for you, Khy," Mallory said with excitement bursting out of every word.

"Thank you, Mal," I said, truly grateful.

"So...did you...?" Rey started.

"Yes!" I squealed, just not at the frequency that I had before for GAP's sake.

They squealed quieter as well. "And...How was it?" Mallory asked.

"Perfect. Amazing. Magical. Stupendous," I giggled.

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you there," Bill enforced. "How was what?"

"The kiss, dad," Mallory said, like it was obvious.

"Your lips shouldn't have been kissing him so soon," mom chided.

"Mom, you and Bill," I said, leaving it at that. But as soon as the words came out of my mouth, I knew there was going to be an argument.

"We are adults," she tried to point out.

"So am I! I'm eighteen! How are Nile and I kissing so soon any different than you and Bill getting married three months after you met in person for the first time? Excuse me, getting engaged on your second date."

Mom just yelled at me for being inconsiderate and rude and that I didn't understand things. I always tuned her out when she was screaming because whenever I'm yelled at, I completely shut down.

From the few stray words that I picked up, I knew that I did understand things. I wasn't a kid anymore, I was a young woman. As a young woman, I could make my choices for myself; I really could do whatever I wanted. But I chose not to. There was far worse that I could be doing than kissing Nile.

As she continued to rant, I made my way upstairs to my bedroom; she was past noticing what I did now. I knew she'd come upstairs later, after she realized that her yelling at me was pointless and that I was the one who had made a point.

Rey, Mallory and I made our way up to Mallory's bedroom, which is right next to mine. Her room was the same as mine and Rey's except that her color scheme was black and royal blue.

"I'm sorry for what I said down there," I apologized to Mallory.

"No, you were right. Our parents got married really fast, how are they going to judge you on how fast your relationship moves. They have no right."

I nodded.

"So, to lighter things..." Rey started. "Tell us everything," she squealed.

I delved into everything from the time we left the house to when he kissed me goodnight.

The three of us squealed and laughed at ourselves.

"Nile seems like he isn't playing around with you. This boy is falling," Mallory observed.

"I'm falling for him too. I've never had a boyfriend like him before."

"_I've_ never had a boyfriend like him before," Mallory chuckled.

"Dinner is served," Jason called to us from the other side of the door.

We got off of Mallory's bed, and headed downstairs to the dining hall.

A bit into dinner, mom apologized, "Khy, I'm so sorry I blew up at you."

"It's okay," I assured her.

"Okay, so tell me what happened."

"He asked me to be his girlfriend," I told her.

"And?"

"And I said yes."

"Well, how did it come about?"

"He and I were just talking, and then he noticed me thinking hard on something. I told him that I was thinking about him and me. He said that he wanted to be with me and I told him the same, then he asked me out."

Mom squeaked.

"If one more person in this house makes the sound of a rodent..." GAP threatened, absently.

"So, now you have a boyfriend!" mom said.

"I know," I beamed. "Oh, Great Aunt Persephone, I was wondering if I may be excused from dinner tomorrow night. Nile wanted to take me out to dinner for a date."

"You will attend dinner," she commanded.

"Yes, ma'am," I nodded.

I went back to eating my dinner, now in silence, with my spirits slightly dampened.

After I excused myself from the table, I went upstairs to change to go jogging. I put on a tank top and shorts with socks and sneakers. I plugged in my ear buds and took off for town.

Today I tried to really notice the scenery of Mullingar, and I noticed that Mullingar isn't too different from Salisbury. It was like _Downtown_ Salisbury, granted, but Salisbury, nonetheless. Just jogging through the streets made me think about how much I was starting to miss my hometown. I almost stepped into a shop, but I kept jogging. I'd have enough time to stop by these stores, plenty of time to get homesick in them. Today wasn't the day for it, though. I continued to pick up speed through my jogging. Too steamed (I'm not sure whether it was good or bad) to stop for a rest, I didn't need it. I kept jogging, and made a loop at Nile's house to the other side of the street and followed that way back.

When I got back to the manor, I hopped into the shower and prepared for bed. I didn't even care that it was only nine, I was tired, and the day had worn me out with all of its twists and turns.

I did call one of my other best friends, Carsen, though, so that I could tell her everything that had happened.

"You already kissed him?!" she squealed. "That's unlike you."

"I know. This guy is getting to me, Carsen! He makes me happy though. I haven't been this happy in such a long time."

"I can see that-"

"Mommy!" Carsen's son, Bailey, called to her.

"Bailey, can you say hi to Aunt Khyri?"

"Hi, Aunt Ri!"

"Hi, Bailey Bail! How are you, sweetie?"

"Fine. I'm play-ting with my twrucks!" I could hear his trucks clinking in the background.

"You're playing with your trucks? Well choose a special one for Aunt Ri, okay?"

"O-tay!"

"I love you, Bailey," I smiled to myself.

"I love you, too, Aunt Ri."

"Anyway," Carsen said, coming back on the phone. "Try to take things slow with this guy."

"I'm trying."

"You don't think you'll be…?"

"No! Not anytime so soon. I'm not having sex with him yet."

"You never know what you'll do. You may get swept up in the passion or something."

"Yeah, well. I'm not going to get swept up in passion."

"You already have. You saw fireworks."

"So?"

I just knew she was on the other line shaking her head at me, "That means that there is a strong connection between the two of you. It could overwhelm you and you will have done it."

"I can't handle this tonight," I said honestly.

"But it's what you needed to hear."

"Ness told me what I needed to hear yesterday."

"Ness-from-your-old-high-school, Ness?" Carsen asked.

"Yeah. She just graduated."

"Oh yeah, she was a year behind us. Well, we, as your two best friends, gotta keep you straight."

I laughed, "What about Reyghan and Mallory?"

"They're good, too."

I laughed.

"Go to bed. You're talking slowly."

"Everyone keeps telling me when to go to bed, lately," I pondered.

"If we're telling you, that means that it's true. I don't want another episode of last summer where you didn't sleep for four nights straight and started hallucinating crazy shit. Get your rest."

I laughed again. "That was horrifying. But I'mma let you go. Tell Bailey and Claire I said goodnight and that I love them when it's their bedtime. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Love you, bye," I said.

"Love you, bye."

I was glad to talk to Carsen, I missed her. She was one of my friends that I would just leave the front door unlocked for her and she would let herself in while I was asleep or getting ready. Mom actually thought about getting her a house key of her own, she came over that much. She has two kids, Bailey and Claire, even though she's about 7 months older than me. I love those kids to death, I'd do anything in the world for them. Since they could talk, they've called me their aunt and I relish in that.

I sent a text to Vanessa to tell her that I had big news for her in the morning but that I was going to bed.

I turned and lay back in my bed and fell asleep, imagining that Nile was lying next to me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Travel safely," Bill said to Mallory, Reyghan, and I.

"We will," Reyghan told him.

"Stay together and call regularly."

"We will," Mallory said.

"Conduct yourselves as proper young ladies."

"We will," I assured.

We kissed mom and Bill goodbye, and boarded the plane for our flight.

After we landed in London, we hopped right into a cab. The cab dropped us by Mallory's nice flat. We went up the stairs and inside the nice flat and I automatically fell out on her sofa.

"Nope, get back up. We're going to a club tonight," Mallory said, pulling on my arm.

"Do we have to?"

"Yup, we're going to have fun tonight. Now, go get ready."

I took my clothes into her spare bedroom and got to work preparing myself. It was already six thirty in the evening, and if London clubs were anything like back home in Ocean City, they'd open either at eight or at nine.

"Hi, Nile," I had called him as I was putting on a tight black skirt that I had brought with me.

"Hello, Khyri! How're you?"

"I'm well. Getting ready to go to a club," I told him.

"The night club in Mullingar?" he asked.

"No, Mallory brought Reyghan and me to her flat in London."

"You're in London? So am I! We've been doin' interviews."

"Are you serious?!"

"Yeah, which club are you goin' to?"

"I'm not sure. I'll text you when we get there, though."

"I'll come by and see you," Nile said with enthusiasm.

"You aren't tired from your interviews?"

"Not when I get to see you," he told me.

"I'll wait for you when we get there."

"Okay, text me."

"I will."

"Bye," he said.

"Bye," I told him, sad to let him go.

On the upside, I would get to see him that night, and that was all I wanted since he told me we'd be apart for a week.

I put on a strapless bra to go with the strapless top I had picked out. My top was a vibrant purple and the five inch heels that I had picked out were the perfect shade of purple to go with the top. I tousled my hair and added gel and sprayed a light hairspray to keep my hair able to move but stay nicely in its place. My make-up was a mixture of bright and dark purples, grey, and charcoal, and black. By the end of it, my light brown eyes were positively glowing, and I looked fierce and lovely at the same time.

I put on my spankies, because crazy things always happen at clubs. I put on a nice tennis bracelet, earrings in the three sets of holes in my ears and changed the ring in my nose and then walked out of the door.

Reyghan pushed me out of the way, her hair and make-up already finished, as she brought her bag of clothes into the spare bedroom to change her clothes. I sat on the sofa, waiting for Rey and Mallory to finish as I switched on the TV to BBC One.

Even though Mallory began getting ready the same time I did, and it took me forty-five minutes, Reyghan and Mallory were still getting ready an hour after I had finished.

"Guys, come on. I don't want to wait forever and a day in the line at whatever club we end up at."

Mallory came out of her room whilst putting on a pair of strappy black heels. "Chill out. I have a few friends."

"You have bouncer friends?"

"Yeah, we can get in quickly, no problem. Even to some that Reyghan isn't allowed to get into."

I laughed, "I was wondering how she'd get in."

Mallory was sporting a tight short black dress that had the back out and came to a halter-tie in the back. Her hair was curled in loose ringlets and glitter sprayed to accentuate the highlights her long blonde hair.

"Ooh, pass me some glitter," I giggled.

She walked over to me and basically sprayed a thin amount of glitter all over the exposed parts of my body and my hair. It was like a light mist and I loved it because it wasn't like I was a disco ball, but just shimmery and glowing. It made me feel all kinds of happy.

"I'm ready," Reyghan called.

"Well, come out here." I told her.

She made all kinds of fanfare as she walked out of the room and Mallory and I laughed at it. Her dress was short and bright green with skinny straps. Her hair was up in a similar hairstyle to what she had styled mine the night of my first date with Nile.

"You look great, Rey," I said.

"You both do," Mallory told us.

Rey and I both smiled at the compliment, told her she looked amazing, and prepared to leave the flat and go out to the club.

"I think I know which one to go to…" Mallory thought aloud.

"Which one?" I asked, pulling my phone out of my clutch.

"I'm thinking… Fabric."

"Okay, well let's get a cab," I suggested.

We hopped in a cab and I texted Nile that we were headed to the Fabric night club. I added some lip gloss to my lips, and then kept my clutch at my side.

We put our bags away after Mallory flirted her way inside the club. Apparently the bouncer, Mikey, was friends with Mallory, so we got inside after she batted her eyelashes twice.

We walked right to the bar and I ordered myself an appletini. I immediately set out looking for Nile…he said he was on his way there, but I didn't see him yet.

"Let's dance," Reyghan said, wiggling her eyebrows at Mallory and I. We smiled at each other as she pulled the two of us by our hands into the middle of the dance floor. We began dancing and a super cute guy came up behind Rey and she turned around to face him. She smiled up at him, he was about 5'8, a perfect height for her, and they began dancing together.

Mallory and I just laughed, and she and I began dancing together. Her hair was mingling with my hair as we twisted and turned and just had pure fun together on the floor. But soon enough, she was snatched up but a totally hot guy, and I was alone dancing on the floor.

Before I knew it, there was someone behind me with hands on my hips.

"Hey, back off, I have a boyfriend," I yelled over the music.

I turned and saw Nile standing right behind me. As soon as I saw his smiling face, I couldn't help myself. I squealed and hopped up into his arms which he squeezed me with tightly.

"I heard that your boyfriend was one pretty cool bloke."

I laughed and kissed his cheek before he sat me down on the floor with the bass pumping back up through my legs.

"He's okay," I beamed.

He leaned down to kiss me, and before I knew it, we were moving to the rhythm of the music. We danced, hands running over each other's bodies. It was the most sensual experience I had had in my life at that point.

I had been on my feet for so long, so many hours, but I didn't care. I caught a glance of Nile's and saw that it was five in the morning. We'd danced and drank all night.

"Oh, my gosh, we've been dancing all night!" I yelled over the music to Nile.

He laughed, "And there's still more dancin' to do!"

We danced and drank some more. I had a nice steady tipsy going on. I was fully blissed, with alcohol in my system and Nile intoxicating me with his touch, his smile, his scent, his voice.

"I never knew you had a tattoo," Nile said as he walked me out to the cab Mallory had hailed. We left the club at seven in the morning, all of us really tired, but having had an amazing night.

"I'll tell you the meaning of it later," I told him.

He gently ran his fingers along the tattoo I had at the base of my neck.

"I have another too, you know," I said, pulling back my hair on my left and tilting my left ear to show him the two stars I had.

"'The second star two the right…'" he started.

I smiled, "'…And straight on to morning.'"

"Does that tattoo mean somethin' to you too?"

"It does, but again, I'll tell you later."

"I don't have to meet up with the boys until five to prepare for an interview…"

I thought about what he was saying. "Do…do you want to come back to Mallory's flat with me?"

"Nile!" a girl passing by on the street called his name. She rushed up to him and gave me a look like I didn't even matter, like I didn't belong in this picture between him and her. "Can I get your autograph?!" the girl asked in a cockney accent.

"Sure," he said as he wrote his name on the notepad she had held out in front of him.

I got hella pissed by how this girl had treated me. "Thank you, Nile," she said as she flirtingly waved goodbye to him as she walked away.

"I'd love to come back with you," he said.

I yawned as I hailed another cab. "We'll meet back at the flat," I told Reyghan and Mallory and then closed the cab door for them and the cabbie pulled away from the curb.

Nile and I shared a cab back to the flat. We went up the stairs, my feet absolutely killing me now that I wasn't feeling the alcohol or the adrenaline anymore.

I showed him to my bedroom and he sat down on my bed. I grabbed a pair of pajamas out of my suitcase and my toiletries bag, and snuck in just a bit of light make-up (I didn't want him to see me without make-up yet).

"I'll be right back; I've got to take a shower."

"Okay," he said lying back on the bed.

I did my routine in the shower, sprayed "Into the Wild", on myself, one of my favorite spicy scents, and brushed my teeth. I added on a light dusting of facial powder, eye shadow, mascara and just a dabbing of lip gloss. I put on a spaghetti strapped night shirt and night shorts. I had washed out the hairspray and gel and was just finishing blow-drying it before I went back to the bedroom. There wasn't a peep coming from the sofa where Mallory had taken for sleep or from Mallory's room where Reyghan was sleeping.

I walked into the guest bedroom where Nile was lying on the bed on the left side. I got under the covers and he smiled at me. It felt great being off of my feet.

"You look refreshed," he grinned.

"I feel refreshed."

He smiled and kissed my lips. I kissed him back deeply. For the first time we used tongues as we kissed. His fingers traced parts of my body that made me shiver. I smiled as I pulled away from his lips. He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead as he ran fingers through my hair.

I turned in the bed to face away from him, ready to go to sleep. Nile wrapped an arm around me and I felt his nose smelling the lavender and vanilla scent of my hair. He kissed traces along my neck. I breathed deeply and he tightened his arm around me, we were spooning, and that made me giggle to myself.

He sighed, contentedly.

Just before I nodded off to sleep, Nile whispered in my ear, "You, Khyri, are the love of me life."

I was too far gone and far too relaxed in Nile's arms to really focus on what Nile had said. I was asleep before I even registered his words.


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

I woke up to Nile gently touching the cross with wings tattoo on the back of my neck.

"What does it mean?"

"My tattoo?"

"Both of them," Nile said.

"The cross with wings I got because my dad had a cross tattoo on his forearm. I always wanted a cross tattoo when I was a kid, and it just became stronger when he died. And I really am a strong believer in angels, I don't know why, though. But that's what the angel wings are for. "

He kissed the back of my neck where that tattoo was placed. I squeezed the hand that I was holding on to that was across my waist.

Nile asked, "And the second star?"

"Well, I've always thought that I have a shot at my dreams, and my dreams are so far away, but you know, I still have a chance to get to my second star on the right. And because I'm afraid of growing up. I'd stay eighteen forever if I could. Plus, I've always loved Peter Pan."

Nile laughed. "You know, you smell amazin'."

I smiled to myself, "I was hoping you'd think so."

I giggled as he kissed along my back and neck. I rolled over and he gently positioned himself over me. I looked at him in the eyes and smiled at him before I placed butterfly kisses along his jaw and neckline. A soft gasp escaped his lips and it made me giddy on the inside. I kissed my way up to his lips and I kissed him with all the passion I had in me.

His arms went under my top, roaming there and no further. He kissed his way down my cheek, jawbone. He lifted my top just to the base of my breasts and kissed down to my navel. It gave me shivers and a soft moan passed my lips.

He worked back up to kissing my lips and I smiled.

"Hey, Khyri," Mallory said, walking into the guest room.

"Oh!" she gasped, surprised when she saw Nile and I tangled up together on the bed.

I laughed uncontrollably, Mallory did too, and Nile chuckled into my neck.

"I was just going to say that we should go visit the Tower, but…we can do that at another time," she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, we can do that at another time," I told her.

She awkwardly ducked out of the room and I laughed again. Before I could settle myself down, Nile's lips fell on mine again, feverishly.

"You have to go soon, don't you?" I breathed.

"How'd you know?"

"That kiss," I told him.

"It's four," he said, kissing and nibbling at my neck.

I giggled because if I didn't do that, I'd have moaned with some serious pleasure.

"Are you trying to give me a hickey," I laughed.

"Is that a love bite?"

"What's a love bite…?"

"What I'm giving you," He murmured between sucking and nibbling and kissing my skin at my collarbone.

I moaned aloud this time.

Nile kissed my lips again before lifting off of me and sitting up in the bed.

"So where are you interviewing tomorrow?"

"I heard somewhere in Scotland, but I'm not all that sure yet."

"And you'll be back in Mullingar…?"

"I'll be back in Mullingar on Friday."

"So, I only have two more days until I'll be able to see you again."

"Yeah, and I'll have a present for you."

"A present?" I asked surprised.

"Don't ask me what it is yet, 'cos I'm not sure."

I laughed, "I wasn't going to ask; I love surprises."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked as he kissed me. "In that case, I'm going to make it a habit of surprising you more."

I kissed him on his nose, "I'm looking forward to it."

He lay his head down on my chest and I ran my fingers through his thick blonde and brown tresses.

Reluctantly I told him, "You have to leave. It's 4:19. You'll be late."

"I don't wanna leave," he chuckled.

Nile sat up slowly and I followed his action. He put on his socks and shoes as I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to tame it.

I walked him to Mallory's front door, Rey sitting up watching TV and Mallory buzzing about the kitchen.

"Bye, Nile," they both called to him as the two of us passed by them and he called a goodbye back to them.

When we reached the door, he standing just out in the hall and me just inside the flat, I said, "I'll see you in a couple of days."

"I'll see you," Nile said as he leaned down to kiss me with nothing more than love pouring past his lips.

"Kill it in your next few interviews."

"I'll definitely 'kill it'," he laughed.

We kissed one last time before he walked down the hallway to the flight of stairs to leave.

A slow tear ran down my cheek, just one, and I wiped it away as quickly as it has sprung out of my eye.

I turned and smiled, telling myself that it would only be a couple more days without him.

"You saw that Reyghan," Mallory said.

"Oh, yeah, I saw that," Rey chuckled.

"What'd you see?" I said, smiling as I brushed past them.

"You cried," Mallory pointed out.

"What?! I don't cry. That was a tear, not crying."

Reyghan and Mallory laughed.

Mallory said, "Oh, by the way, what was going on when I walked in?"

"We were making out…"

"Nothing more than that?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing more than that," I assured her. "I'm not going to have sex with him anytime soon, Mal. I can't."

"Why can't you, that boy is heels over head for you," Mallory said.

"I'm not going to have sex until I'm absolutely sure I'm with the guy I'm going to marry."

"So you're a virgin," she nodded.

"Nope," I smiled.

"Wait…then how,"

"That's what I've decided for myself. Before…I used to not be as…prudent," I laughed.

Mallory laughed, "So, Nile isn't going to get lucky anytime soon."

"Not unless I'm positive that he's the one I'm going to marry. Besides, it's too soon to talk about this; we've only been dating like four days."

"Are we going out tonight or…?" Mallory started.

"I was thinking that we should have a sister night…"

"That's a lovely idea! We need a night of sisterly bonding."

Mallory got dressed in something nice and said she was going to be back soon.

I went to her kitchen and bustled around until I found something I wanted to eat. I had come across a stash of junk food but I didn't eat any of it yet because I was a little apprehensive about the flavors, they were nothing like the flavors we have in the US. I just went to the stove and made some eggs over-easy, and sat down next to Rey on the sofa.

"Ugh, I hate it when you eat those eggs, they're so gross."

I took a bite of the white of the egg and finished chewing before saying, "You know I've eaten them like this for years."

"Yeah, back when you and daddy used to eat them together on Saturdays, I know."

"Did you see the snacks she has in there?"

"Yeah, what the hell are those flavors?" she laughed.

"I want to try some, but I'm scared."

"Coming from the girl who tries all kinds of food," she scoffed.

"I don't even know what to expect from those flavors. I'm just gonna wait until she gets back, so that I can try them then. If she's picking up movies, I'll eat them when I'm distracted in the movie."

"What kind of movies do you think she's going to pick up?"

"Either chick flicks or horror," I shrugged.

Just when I finished my sentence, Mallory walked through the door, a bag rustling and her keys jingling. "I brought movies!"

Rey and I looked at each other and laughed.

"What'd you get?" Rey asked her.

She reached into the bag and pulled out a plethora of Reese Witherspoon movies. So, I was right when I said "chick flicks".

Mallory walked into the kitchen and brought out basically her whole junk food supply, plus three types of ice cream and spoons as I put in the first movie into the DVD player.

We turned off all of the lights and closed all of the curtains and we piled together on the sofa with a spread of junk food in front of us on the table. We pulled a blanket over us as the movie began and dove in for the food. I tried some chips that I couldn't read the name of in the dark. They were different than the flavors I'd had back home, but they were pretty tasty.

We watched Reese as a fashion designer, with elephants, becoming a lawyer, and rescuing dogs. It was pretty late when the movies ended and when all but a few snacks were gone from the table.

"Y'all wanna go to bed?" Rey asked.

"I'm kinda beat," I said.

"I bet you are," Mallory said.

"Ha ha ha," I said sarcastically, and then I began to laugh for real.

Rey and I helped Mallory clean up wrappers and the trash from the floor and the table. Mallory agreed to take the sofa again and let Rey take her room. I made my way to the bedroom to get ready for bed.

I turned on some music because I hate sleeping in the silence. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

"So how did the interview go, yesterday?" I asked Nile at midday.

"It went well, I did have one this morning on a radio show. We left right after. We're headed to Poland."

"I know you'll have fun there, I heard Poland is awesome!"

"It will be. I love visiting all the different countries."

"I would too."

"So what'd you do after I left yesterday?"

"We had a girls' night in. Just watched chick flicks."

"So, you had fun?"

"Yeah, Mallory's becoming a real sister to me."

"I'm glad; she seems to really care about you."

"I care about her, too. Oh, I'm going to be late! Mallory scheduled appointments for she, Reyghan, and I to go to a spa. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, bye."

"Love you, bye," I said before I hung up the phone.

After I set the phone down, I freaked out. I actually screamed. I felt my face turning a dark shade of purple and then I felt like I was going to throw up.

Mallory and Reyghan rushed into my room worried about me since I had screamed.

"What's wrong, why do you look pale?" Reyghan asked.

"I-I-I-!" I tried, hyperventilating.

"Breathe deep breaths and then try," Mallory tried.

Reyghan moved her hands up and down to indicate breathing, as she took the breaths with me. "Do what you always get me to do when I have a panic attack. Just breathe and relax, it'll all be okay."

"No it won't! I told him I loved him when I hung up the phone."

"Is that all?" Mallory chuckled.

"We haven't said it to each other yet," I screamed, freaking out again.

"Ooh," Reyghan and Mallory said in unison.

"I know!"

"How'd you say it?" Mallory asked.

"'Love you, bye,'" I told them.

Reyghan raised an eyebrow, "You mean the send-off you always use with Ness and Carmen?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Well, that's it then," Mallory deduced. "You said it out of habit, not out of feeling."

"The thing is: I meant it."

"You meant it?!" they gasped.

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. "I meant it."

"Do you think he heard what you said?" Reyghan asked.

"I'm not sure; I hung up before I could find out."

"Then there's a chance that he hung up before it," Mallory suggested.

"There's a greater chance that he was waiting for me to say goodbye and that he heard it."

"Well," Reyghan started, "if he brings it up, then he heard it. If he doesn't bring it up, then he didn't"

"Or he could be trying to spare my feelings."

"Well, there's no use stressing out about it. Get ready so we can go. A day at the spa will work this all out of your system," Mallory said.

She and Reyghan got off the bed and I went to finish getting ready. Having already showered and added make-up, all I had left to do was put on some clothes and do my hair.

We left the flat and spent the day out at the spa. After we finished all of the treatment scheduled for us at the spa, Mallory decided that we needed to get a taste of the London shopping scene. We hit up incredible shops and stores and bought the cutest things. I have to admit, the activities of the day took my mind off the fact that I wasn't with Nile or what I had said to him.

Nile called me just when I was settling in for bed.

"Hi," I said, shy to talk to him since the first night we met a week before.

"How was your day?" Nile asked.

"We went to a spa and then we went shopping. I love the shopping here, and I've never really been one for it."

"I'm glad you had fun in London. I knew you'd enjoy yourself there."

"I really did," I said through a yawn.

"You sound tired," he chuckled.

"Just a bit," I laughed.

"I have an interview in a bit, and I wanted to make sure I said goodnight to you before I went on."

"That's so sweet," I smiled to myself. "Goodnight, do well in your interview."

"Goodnight," Nile said. Just before I hung up, I heard him say, "I love you, too."


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

Oh, my gosh, Nile Borran said that he loves me!

I screamed again to myself, turning red but from the sheer joy that I felt. I'd caused Reyghan and Mallory to come back into the guest room to check on my well-being.

"You're going to have to stop doing that," Reyghan said.

"What happened now?" Mallory asked.

"He said that he loves me too!"

All three of us looked at each other as it took a second to sink in, then we all squealed.

"How'd he say it?!" Mallory asked.

"It was in a 'by the way' manner…Like it was an 'oh, by the way, I love you, too,' to my 'love you, bye,' from earlier."

"I told you he'd be cool about it!" Reyghan said like it was obvious.

"You didn't say that," I pointed out with a laugh.

"Not in so many words," she laughed.

"Well, now that everyone had that little pick-me-up, let's go to bed. We have a mid-morning flight back to Mullingar," Mallory said.

I woke up at seven to pack up all of my crap into my bags. Mallory and Reyghan were bustling around the flat trying to find their stuff to take with them back to Ireland. I texted Nile telling him that we had a flight back to Mullingar at 10:41 and that I'd call him when we landed. He texted me back saying that he looked forward to hearing my voice and it made me beam.

I took a shower, sprayed myself, and got dressed. I did my make-up and my hair and as I carried my bags out of the bedroom, Rey was finishing doing her make-up; everything else on her was finished.

"Mallory picked up some food for us at a bistro; I told her what you like."

I went to the kitchen counter and looked at the white bag sitting there next to a cup of coffee. I picked up the cup and tasted it to find out that it was a mixture of vanilla coffee and hazelnut creamer- my favorite. Inside the bag were two muffins, blueberry and banana nut- also my favorites. I took another sip of my coffee before I sat down to eat, Rey just zipping up her bags. Mallory came out of her room with her suitcase a few minutes later.

"You girls ready to leave?" Mallory asked.

"I'm ready," I told her.

We pulled our bags out of the flat and Mallory locked the door behind us. We hailed a cab to take us to the airport and got a flight back to Mullingar.

When we arrived, back at the manor, mom, Bill, and GAP were waiting for our return.

We were told how much we were missed and given hugs and kisses and told to run along. That was it.

"So tell us everything," Ness said as I was on three-way with her and Carsen.

I told them everything from my first date, to going to London, to the first time we made out, to Fabric, to Nile and me saying "I love you".

"You said it already?!" Ness asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"I think it's sweet," Carsen said.

"Thank you, Carsen," I said then laughed.

"No, I mean it is sweet, but isn't it kinda early?" Ness asked.

"It is early," I admitted, "but I really do feel it."

"Then…I guess it's okay," Ness said, I knew she was reluctantly nodding her head.

That's why Ness and Carsen are my best friends; we all have the same range of goofiness and scattered attention and the same level of awkwardness. But I'm in the middle of Carsen's heightened emotions and Ness's heightened sensibility. I go to them when I need two different outlooks on an issue I'm having when my feelings are just constantly in the middle of their two perspectives. They keep me grounded on both sides.

"So, he's coming back today?" Carsen asked.

"Yeah; his flight lands at 3:17," I told them.

"Are you going to meet him at the airport?" Ness asked.

"No, that's cliché, I'm going over to his house; I thought I'd surprise him."

"Don't do that, let him come to you or meet him in the airport," Ness told me.

"She's right, don't go over to his house," Carsen agreed.

"So, what do I do if I meet him at the airport?" I asked, frustrated.

"I don't know," Ness admitted. "But do something romantic."

I sighed and told them that I love them and hung up the phone. I sunk to the floor next to my bed and began racking my head for ideas that would be nice.

It dawned on me that he had showed me something the third day we were together: he loves to eat. Then I had the most brilliant idea: I'd cook for him! Not just any food, though- southern homestyle food.

I checked my clock and saw that it was 12:30. I hopped up to get dressed and make-up ready to go to the market to pick up the supplies I'd need and look hot while cooking them.

I fish-tail braided my hair to go from the top left side of my head and to curve to the bottom right side and down over my right shoulder. I put on a cute little cornflower blue dress that looked like it came from the sixties- kind of looks like the type of dress that Taylor Swift or Rachel Berry would wear. I had this pair of yellow flats that went with the yellow embroidering on the dress. I did light colored make-up on my eyes, making me look innocent and sweet, and just a touch of frosty pink lip gloss to pull the whole look together.

I put one of my checking books, one credit card, and some money into my purse with my phone. I ran to tell Rey and Mallory that I wouldn't be home until later that evening and then I rushed out of the manor.

I went to the market to pick up chicken, grease, potatoes, a potato masher, green beans, butter, cheese, milk, and macaroni noodles.

By the time I had found all of the ingredients that I needed and got to Nile's house, it was two.

I knocked on the door and his father answered, "Hello, Khyri."

"Hello, Mr. Borran," I beamed.

"How may I help you? You have so many bags."

"I was hoping to surprise Nile with a welcome home meal."

His dad smiled at me and let me inside. I walked in and he showed me around the kitchen, letting me know where everything was and saying that I could use anything in there that I wanted.

"So what kind of meal are you making him?" Mr. Borran asked.

"I was going to make him a southern meal. Fried chicken, sautéed green beans, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese," I said as I started the pans going and setting the ingredients out in front of me.

"That sounds delicious," his father said. "He's very lucky to have met you."

I smiled at that, "Thank you, sir."

"So, tell me about yourself."

I told him my story as I prepared the food. I had just put the macaroni in the oven when I finished telling him about myself.

"Your story is so tragic, all that you've had to live through in your young life, but you've come out so strong and courageous and joyful."

"I learned how to be joyous in the hardest of times long ago."

"How do you do it?"

"I don't know, really. When everything in my life falls apart, I hold on to the fact that I don't have to crumble with it. I hold on to my faith and I know that eventually, everything will be alright."

I took the last batch of fried chicken out and put it on a paper towel on a plate full of fried chicken. I began stirring the mashed potatoes that were just about finished. I checked the macaroni that was just about perfectly done. I started bringing down saucers and serving plates and began to set the table.

"Would you like to join us?" I asked Nile's father.

"No, I'll let you two have your alone time."

"Are you sure? There's plenty of food here," I smiled.

Mr. Borran broke out in a laugh, "You obviously haven't seen Nile eat when he's very hungry."

"Is it really that bad?" I laughed.

"You should take your portion of the food now, before he has a chance to get at it," he chuckled. "Oh, would you like to have some wine for your meal?"

"That would be perfect!"

Nile's dad left the dining room where I was setting everything up and brought back a nice bottle of wine.

"Thank you so much," I said as I walked back into the kitchen to grab two wine glasses to set out.

Everything was set out on the table, and the table was all set, I'd even put out a candelabra and just had it lit when I heard the door open and shut.

"What's that amazin' smell?"

Nile found his way into the dining room and he saw the spread that I had put out.

"I'll leave you two alone," Mr. Borran said as he began to walk out of the room. He clamped a hand on Nile's shoulder and gave him a smile before he left us alone.

Nile looked at me with a content smile on his face.

"You did all of this?" Nile asked.

I laughed, "I did."

Nile walked up to me and wrapped strong arms around me. He leaned down to kiss me passionately. The kiss was so deep that I found eternity in it and back again.

I buried my head in his chest.

"You're brilliant," Nile breathed. "You actually made me food, a full meal."

"I didn't know if you'd ever had southern food before, but I wanted to show you a piece of me. Southern food is a piece of me."

"I can't wait to eat it," Nile said as we broke apart to sit down across from each other at the table.

We both piled food on our plates and dug in. Every bite of the new food he tried, Nile sighed in contentment. He and I tore through the food, and talked and laughed the whole time. By the end of it, both he and I were a bit tipsy off the wine and I was feeling amazing.

"That was incredible!" Nile said as we finished eating.

"I'm glad you liked it," I said as I began clearing the dishes to take them to the kitchen.

As I put the dishes in the sink, Nile came up behind me and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I giggled when I felt his lips gently kiss my ear.

His Irish accent bombarded my mind, "So…what you told me the other night…"

I knew exactly what he was referring to, "I meant it," I told him.

He kissed my ear again, "So did I."

I turned around to face him and he stepped even closer to me, my back pressed against the sink.

I wrapped my hands around both of his and he held onto them. "I missed you," he told me.

"I missed you, too. I don't just go around making huge meals for just anyone," I chuckled.

"I'm glad you did that for me. It was the best thing to come home to."

"I thought it would be. I wanted you to be happy," I told him.

"I'm very happy," he smiled.

"There's still enough for leftovers for you and your dad to share."

"You sound like you're leaving…"

"I have to- family dinner. I'm already going to be late for it."

"You can't miss it?"

I hesitantly said, "I can't."

Nile pulled me in for a hug. I pulled away from him and turned on the water in the sink and wet a rag and put dish detergent on it.

"I'm not leaving yet. I have to wash the dishes first." I said, picking up a plate to begin scrubbing it.

"I'll take care of that, you made the meal."

"Exactly, so, I should be the one to clear up the mess."

"Nope, I'm not letting you do it," Nile said, snatching the rag out of my hand.

I laughed as I tossed a handful of bubbles at him. He laughed with me as he hit at me with the soapy rag. We had a huge play fight right there in the kitchen, getting dish water and soap everywhere around the kitchen.

Nile had gone to get us some towels to clean everything up, leaving the kitchen spotless. We both had our own towels to clean ourselves up with but he mostly used his to help me dry off. I was beaming the whole time, happy beyond belief that I had a boyfriend like him.

His blue eyes gazed at me and I shied away from his stare, just a bit. He lifted my chin back up to look at him and this time, I didn't shy. I ran my fingers down the length of his torso and just under his shirt; I didn't break my hold on his eyes. He tapped the spot on my neck where he had left a small hickey or "love bite". I smiled, knowing that the look I gave him was sexy. His eyes smoldered beneath his lashes. My heartbeat raced in my ears, and from my hand placed over his heart, I felt through my fingertips that his heartbeat matched mine. I gasped at the realization.

"What is it?" Nile asked.

"Our heartbeats match," I said as I stared at where his heart should be, puzzled at that fact. I looked up at him and he was beaming down at me.

"Do you think that you can come back later?" Nile asked, his hand coming up to rest on top of the hand that I had, still placed over his heart.

"I'll come by when I'm on my jog," I told him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow pass by, heading back toward the living room. I guess his dad had seen Nile and me together.

Nile saw what I had seen because we both separated from each other just a bit. I moved to get my purse and Nile followed me out to the car that mom and Bill had rented.

"I'll be back soon," I told Nile. It was splattering rain, but that wasn't going to keep me from my jog, from going to see him.

Nile and I hugged each other and shared a kiss before I got into the car and drove back to the manor.

I walked into the dining room, my family already sitting down and almost finished with dinner. I took my seat and took a sip of the water glass set out for me.

"Why do you look like a wet cat and why are you late to supper?" GAP asked.

"Nile got back from the interviews he had to do with his band today. I cooked for him to welcome him back home."

"What did you cook for the boy?"

"I made him some southern food. I cooked him green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and fried chicken."

"Why do you look like a wet cat?" she raised an eyebrow.

"It was pouring rain outside. I didn't have a jacket or an umbrella with me. I got soaked out there."

"Hmm," GAP gruffled. "It was a sweet thing that you did, you seem to be making a wonderful woman of yourself with this suitor, but you will be punished for breaking the rule of being late to supper."

"Are you serious?! I'm being grounded?! I never get grounded!"

Mom looked at me from across the table, too afraid to go against GAP's punishment. I would be, too, if I was her, but I didn't like it.

Mom never grounded me because I never really did anything worth being grounded for in her eyes. With her, I would fess up everything I did, right after I did it, she'd say that I had to make my own decisions but that she was glad that I usually made the right or safe ones, and then she'd send me on my way. I never did anything grounding worthy! Honestly, I didn't even know how to be grounded. I think I'd only ever been grounded once and that was back when my daddy was still alive; so long ago that I didn't have anything to do with myself anyway, the grounding was just a formality.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked GAP.

"You are not allowed to leave this house for one week unless it is a family event. You are not allowed to see this suitor of yours within this week. He is not allowed to come over to the Manor within this week," GAP said with power in her frail voice.

I almost cried; my bottom lip quivered. She was telling me that I couldn't have Nile for this whole week. I just got him back!

I excused myself from the table, my family staring at me as I left the room and I ran up the staircase to the east to climb into bed. I screamed into a pillow as tears ran down my face. I cried twice within a week…that was more than I had cried in the last three years! What the hell is that?! I hate crying, yet I was doing it and didn't give a damn in that moment.

I dialed Nile, tears still streaming steadily down my cheeks. I told him what happened and that I wasn't allowed back out that night. He sounded genuinely sad that he wouldn't be able to see me this week. He told me that we'd find a way to see each other this week. When I got off the phone with him, I rolled over and cried myself to sleep, just as I was.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

They took my phone, laptop, Kindle, and mp3 player away from me that night while I was asleep. This meant for two days I couldn't get in touch with Nile. I was only allowed to do things in the house, and GAP had told Mallory and Reyghan that they weren't allowed to interact with me other than at brunch or dinner. Actually, I was basically kept in my room. So all I did was write love songs and teen angst songs and begin rereading _The Hunger Games_ trilogy again on the hard copies I had brought with me instead of the ones I had on my Kindle.

At the end of the third night, right after I had turned off the lights in my suite, I heard something tapping on my window. I went to the window as cautiously as I could to peer outside.

When I didn't see anything, I went back to my bed to lie down on my bed. Then I started hearing the tapping again and rushed back to the window to see what it was. This time I saw a mess of blonde hair bobbing about in the dark. I hastily opened the window and waved hello to Nile standing under my window.

"Hello, love!" he hissed up to me.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed back, though I was ecstatic to see him.

"You didn't respond to my texts or Twitter so I came to see you."

"They took all of my stuff away from me."

"I had to see you," he smiled.

"I miss you," I told him.

"I miss you, too. I'll come back tomorrow," Nile told me.

"I'm looking forward to it," I said. I blew him a kiss before saying, "I love you!"

"I love you," he told me before he waved goodbye and left me staring after him in the dark.

I went to sleep with a big ass smile on my face.

The next night, Nile came by my window again and had his acoustic guitar. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world because at that moment, my night had become renaissance-esque/'80s Brat Pack movie.

He sang _Seconds_ to me so beautifully that I couldn't help but softly sing along with him.

"Was that you?" Nile asked after he finished singing the song.

"Was that me what?" I asked.

"Singing. Was that you singing with me?" he asked.

"A little," I blushed. I didn't know that he could hear me.

"Your voice is angelic."

"Thank you," I said.

"What song would you like to hear next?" he asked, fiddling with his capo.

"_My Hope_," I told him. I leaned on the windowsill with my cheeks resting on my hands, "That's my favorite song from the album."

I saw Nile smile in the moonlight, as he began plucking the intro to the song. I closed my eyes and got lost in his voice, I smiled to myself as the song went on. I mouthed the words, but was too shy to sing them out.

After an hour of calling out to each other and singing in the darkness Nile said that he had to go back home. I sighed, wishing that our time together wasn't over so soon.

"Goodnight, Khyri, I love you," he hissed to me.

"Goodnight, I love you, too, Nile."

The next night, Nile found a way to climb up to my window. I let him inside and as soon as he was in, we embraced each other tightly. Hands running over each other's bodies because we could finally touch again; we kissed passionately.

I walked him over with me to sit on the edge of my bed.

"How'd you get up here?" I breathed, our mouths still close.

"I climbed. I had to be near you. Nice jimjams, by the way."

I giggled and kissed his lips again.

Then I thought about the fact that I was still grounded.

I hopped up to the door to my suite and looked out to the rest of the east wing. The rest of the manor sounded quiet, so I closed the door as noiselessly as I could and locked it. Then I ran back to the bed and did my midair flip onto it. Nile laughed as quietly as he could and I giggled. I hadn't turned the lights on because I was afraid that mom, Bill, or especially GAP would see that I was still up from seeing the lights still on from under the door. The only light in the room came from the bright half-moon outside.

Nile lay down next to me on the bed and I held his hand in mine. I circled his palm with my other hand as I looked between it and his eyes. I outlined his palm with my fingers, tracing the faint lines in his hand, sprinkling them with tiny kisses.

We talked intimately. I told him my deepest fear, he told me his. I told him a few secrets, he shared some with me. I told him my deepest desires, he told me his. I told him a lie, he told me one- both ridiculous and funny.

An hour went by and he saw it on the clock on my nightstand.

He began to get up, but I gripped on to his hand.

I whispered, "Please don't leave."

"But…" he started and looked at me. I saw his resolve shatter and he lay back down next to me. "I don't have to leave."

"You can stay 'til the morning, we can wake up early so that you leave before anyone else notices."

"We could do that…"

"We could."

Nile kissed me ever so softly on my lips. He brushed the stray hairs that had fallen in my face away and then kissed my lips again. I breathed when we pulled apart and just gazed at his wonderful blue eyes. Eyes that let me travel into forever, showing me more love from a boyfriend than I had ever had in my life.

"Spend the night with me," I whispered.

"Every night," he said, as he kissed me again. We rolled around on the bed; I kissed him like I'd never kissed anyone else before. It was almost like I was kissing him with my heart.

After a really, I mean _really_, good making out, he told me that I had to go to sleep.

"I don't wanna, I like making out with you," I told him.

"I like making out with you too. But, your family will know that something is up with you if they see how tired you'll look in the morning."

I smiled, "Besides, I'll have to figure out how to cover up all of the hickeys you made. Actually, I like the term love bites, it seems more romantic," I giggled.

Nile kissed me deeply. "You made a couple on me too," he sighed in contentment as he pointed out.

I gently bit his lip before I said, "I know I did."

Before I fell asleep, I made sure to set my alarm clock for seven in the morning so that Nile and I could wake up and sneak him out of the manor before everyone else woke up.

"I love you," I told him.

"I love you," Nile said to me.

I curled up next to Nile, both of us under the covers, my head resting on his chest. His fingers gently rubbed my back; and as his fingers soothed me to sleep, he sang _Fly Me to the Moon_ and his voice lulled me to sleep. I was out in minutes.

I woke up before the alarm clock went off, but Nile was still asleep. I looked up at him sleeping next to me, he was the most peaceful sleeper I'd ever seen; I almost threw the alarm clock when it went off and woke him up.

"It's time to get up, already?" he asked.

I yawned, "It is."

Nile kissed me on the top of my head and made me smile uncontrollably. I sat up in the bed, both my and his hands rushed to my hair to smooth it out from sleep. I stood up and stretched and he did the same thing.

I opened the bedroom door as noiselessly as I could and waved to Nile to follow me down the corridor. We tiptoed down the steps and safely made it outside without anyone seeing us.

"I'll be back tonight," Nile told me as we held hand and walked down the mile long drive up to the manor.

"Are you going to stay, 'cause its kinda weird sleeping in my jammies with you in your clothes," I joked.

He blushed but told me, "I don't sleep in jimjams."

"Boxers are okay, too," I said, not getting his point.

He laughed as he said, "I don't sleep in anything."

It took me a second to realize that he meant that he slept naked. I must have turned beet red because he laughed harder and I couldn't resist laughing either. "Oh," I said.

When we got to the end of the drive, we turned to each other.

"See you tonight," I said to him.

"See you tonight," he said.

He leaned down to kiss me on my cheek, then my nose, then my other cheek before he pulled away. I had a blushing smile on my face. Nile turned to walk toward the road; I turned to walk back toward the house; both of us waiting until we couldn't anymore to let go of each other's hands. We turned and waved to each other as we walked in separate directions.

When I crept back inside the Manor and up the east staircase, I snuck back into my room, looking down the corridor as I quietly shut the door to my suite.

"Mmhmm," I heard behind me.

I jumped out of my skin, turning around to face the sound in midair, and just barely managed to fight off the scream that rose in my throat when I saw Mallory sitting on my bed with a knowing smile on her face.

"What are you doing in here?!" I hissed at her.

"I saw you and Nile leaving your bedroom and I nearly died. Did he stay the night?"

"He did," I said as I got in on the right side of the bed, the side Nile had slept on, and laid back down.

Mallory beamed, "Did you two make looove?" She held out the 'love' for a few beats.

"No, we just made out and then slept together." I saw her eyebrows shoot up and she gasped, I stopped her just before she spoke. "And, no, I don't mean 'slept together' as in sex; I mean slept together as we fell asleep together when we got tired."

"How'd he get up here?"

"He climbed the vine thing next to my window."

"You know I won't tell anyone, love."

"I know you won't; thank you."

I sat up and hugged her before she got up and left my room.

"Girls," GAP started.

"Yes, Great Aunt Persephone," Mallory, Reyghan, and I answered at the same time.

I stopped putting butter on my toast to look at GAP.

"This coming week, Thursday eve, is the annual ball for the high society of the United Kingdom. This time is my turn to hold the ball, which means that the three of you will need to be in training during the week to become more ladylike. Tuesday, a designer will be visiting the Manor to fit all of us into the ball gowns we will choose. A fitter will be coming for you as well, William. You will also need to find escorts to the ball. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Great Aunt Persephone," we all nodded in agreement.

I almost burst with excitement because, in secret, I'd always desired going to a ball. I guess that was the old school girl in me, the one who saw Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, the one from 1997, and was obsessed with it as a kid and always wanted to go to a ball ever since.

I thought about the songs and the dancing and suddenly it was all too much. I started beaming at the thought of that happening for Nile and me. Then I saw everyone at the table staring at me grinning for reasons unbeknownst to them and then my smile quickly faded, but I was still just as happy at the thought on the inside.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Stand straighter, Reyghan!" GAP chided as she slapped Rey on the back with a rod.

We were walking around GAP's empty sitting room with tall stacks of books on our heads. You'd think after my week of being grounded was over, I'd get to go out and be with my boyfriend, but nope, I'm walking around a room with books on my head and high heels on in a fake dress that I could possibly trip on at any moment.

"Khyri! More expression, smile pleasantly!" GAP hollered.

"Mallory! More elegance, more grace! Look at how Khyri is gliding across the floor."

I was gliding? I thought I was just barely staying on my feet.

Mallory, Reyghan and I had had three days of that, and it wasn't fun anymore. We'd all had quick ballroom dance lessons every day with one of GAP's servants, Digory, as our fill-in escorts. I was okay at it, so far, but I didn't pick it up quite as fast as Rey had.

At the end of the training day, GAP said, "Go wash up for dinner," before she strode out of the room.

The three of us just looked at each other and all collapsed on the floor.

"My spine has never been this erect in my life!" I groaned.

"My feet are killing me," Mallory whined as she kicked off her heels and started messaging her foot.

"My back hurts! She kept whacking me with that tree stump of hers." Rey moaned.

I tried to laugh, but my body couldn't take it. Instead, I just huffed out a sigh.

"Hey, at least tomorrow, we get to pick out our dresses and such," Mallory said with lifted spirits.

"I'm glad, 'cause if I have to take another two full days of this, I may die," I said.

We all got up slowly and painfully to walk out the door, Mallory hung back and grabbed a hold of my wrist before I stepped over the threshold.

"Has he slept over anymore? Nile," Mallory asked.

"He had been. He hasn't since Friday, now that I'm not grounded anymore."

Mallory laughed, "I think that we're all being grounded right now in preparing for this ball."

I laughed as we walked out of the room.

"That dress is positively lovely, Khyri!" Mallory said at the floor length black gown that I was wearing.

"I don't like it. I need color. What else do you have?" I asked the designer, Rory.

He looked at my body frame for the millionth time and put his hands to his chin as he thought about what he may have for me. He walked to one of the many racks of clothes he had brought with him for us to try on. He brought back to me a gown that I always envisioned princesses to wear.

As soon as I lay eyes on the dress, I was in love. It was the loveliest, most saturated, richest, sea foam green I had ever seen in my life. The top was sweetheart, the right kind of top for my body type, glitter lightly sprayed along the bodice. The skirts, oh, the skirts of the dress looked like they had sprinklings of pixie dust all over. The entire gown basically radiated with its own light. It was the gown I'd always wanted to wear; it looked like it had a hundred skirts, it came out so far. I almost lunged for the gown.

I snatched it from the designer's hands and apologized to him as I ran with the gown as cautiously and as fast as I could to the dressing area he had set up for us.

As soon as I had put on the gown it had fit my body perfectly. I walked out of the changing area feeling like royalty in the gown.

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing, admiring me in the dress.

"That's the one," GAP gasped, expression, I think delight, showed up on her face.

"This is definitely the one," I said as I looked at myself in a three-way mirror.

"I'm going to have to take it up some; you will need to be able to dance gracefully in this gown, yes?" I nodded to him. He had a very thick Scottish accent. "Then I will need to make it shorter for you. James! Take her measurements," Rory called to one of his assistants.

I went off with him as he measured the skirts of the gown. He started pinning things up and then told me to take a stroll around the room. By the third time, with a pair of faux heels, I was able to walk around the room with a "glide" and that was the length they were going to modify the gown to. The skirts still swept the floor, but it was in an elegant way, not in an "I'm tripping over myself trying not to fall on my face" kind of way.

Mom came out of the changing room with a subtle peach colored dress with sheer peach long sleeves. It was very classy and elegant. Hers had little jewels dotted all over the dress and sleeves and she shone as the light hit her.

"I love that dress, mom," I gasped.

"That suits you, Caroll," GAP said in agreement.

"For you, Lady Persephone," the designer, I guess I should just call him Rory, but that seems too…casual to just call this refined man that, said to GAP as he presented her with a dress. "This was made especially for you."

It was a soft blue, leaning on white, with a little hat to go on her blonde and grey head.

"Rory, you always design the best for me," she almost smiled as she admired the dress.

The dress was pencil design with a blazer to match it. There was a slightly deeper shade of blue under a sheer that covered the entire ensemble that I hadn't seen until I was closer.

GAP didn't even go try on the dress; I guess she just figured that it would fit her since Rory knew her small-framed body well enough.

Mallory came out of the changing area with a grey and black gown. It started out black at the bodice, and as the gown went down, it ran together then morphed into complete grey just inches from the bottom. Hers only seemed to have a couple skirts, but this gown carried its own kind of elegance.

Rory walked around the gown a couple times, tugging here and there, fiddling with the one strap that started over in the front left to up in the back right. He called to another assistant to come and pin up the gown to take it in.

Mallory wasn't flat chested, but she was nowhere near as endowed in the breast area as Reyghan and I. We both have breasts that woman pay huge bucks for, and have multiple implantations to reach. That was where Lester, apparently, would have to take in the gown.

When Rey came out of the changing area her second time, she had found the dress that was perfect for her. It was an electric green that had yellow embroidery all over in gems and coloring. It was straight across the chest and went straight down from there with flare at the bottom, but it was pretty form fitted.

GAP stared at the gown, but gave her approval, though she didn't like how fitted it was.

With all the dresses and gowns chosen and ready for adjustment, we chose shoes and accessories. It was like Christmas that I got to choose from such a wide array of shoes and accessories. I almost didn't know what to do with myself. And I knew for a fact that Rey nearly had a heart attack at the shoes, and Mallory almost choked on the accessories, I giggled at their fuss.

"Bustle, ladies, I have a crew of make-up artists coming soon," GAP clapped her hands.

The make-up artists did a really great job at testing out make-up for us to wear, though mom was squirming the entire time because she hates wearing make-up. We thanked them and told them we'd see them again on Thursday.

"Make sure you all have dates," GAP remembered to mention before she excused herself from the room to go check on the "more important" preparations she had to attend to.

"How are you and I supposed to find dates so fast?" Rey asked Mallory.

"Right?! Khy's already covered."

"I haven't exactly asked Nile yet."

"Well, since you aren't grounded, I think that we should make an evening of it," Reyghan suggested.

"Why do we always have to make an 'evening, night, afternoon, or day' of something?" I laughed.

"I don't know; I just like saying it."

We grabbed our bags, put on some regular make-up and left the manor; Reyghan and Mallory in pursuit of ball escorts.

"Now that we found you both dates, let's go back home, I'm tired." I said to Reyghan and Mallory. We'd been at the pursuit for hours, but came out successful. Both of them found guys in appropriate age range, and both guys were really hot. They were both on a high and were giggly.

"No, no, no, you still have to ask Nile," Mallory pointed out.

"I'm okay with not," I shrugged.

"Nope, he's your boyfriend, just ask him," Reyghan said.

"Fine!"

Mallory followed my directions and we ended up at Nile's house. When I got out of the car, they got out and followed me too.

"Where're you going?" I asked, slightly amused.

"We're coming with you," Reyghan said like it was obvious.

I shook my head as I turned to continue walking. When I knocked on Nile's door, he answered.

"Khyri!" he exclaimed as he picked me up in a hug. "What a pleasant surprise.

I giggled and hugged him tightly back. I heard Rey and Mal in the background "awing" to themselves.

"What's the occasion?" Nile said as he sat me back down on the ground and finally noticed Rey and Mal and waved to them.

"I was wondering if you'd escort me to the ball that Great Aunt Persephone is throwing on Thursday?"

"Which one?" Nile chuckled. "She hosts so many."

"The Summer Solstice Ball," I said.

"I don't know why it's called that," I heard Rey mumble behind me. "The solstice was a week and a half ago."

"Of course I'll escort you," Nile said with a smile. "What color are you wearing?" He asked as an afterthought.

"Sea foam green," I laughed.

"I can't wait," Nile said.

"Well, now that that's sorted…" I started.

"Oh, I left my watch in your bedroom," Nile said.

"I found it," I said as I showed him my wrist, I had decided to wear it.

Nile smiled proudly, "It looks great on you; you should keep it."

"I was hoping you'd say so," I loved the feeling of his watch on my dainty wrist.

"Whoa, wait!" Reyghan hollered. "When were you in her room?"

"While she was grounded," Mallory brushed off.

"What?"

"Just at night," I said.

"What?!"

"Nothing like that," Nile chuckled.

"What exactly happened?" Rey asked, her face red in anger.

I cautiously told her how he had been coming over and what we did while he stayed.

"That's all…?" Rey lifted an eyebrow at the two of us.

He and I said in unison, "That's all."

Rey nodded, appeased for the moment. Then she thought about it, "How did you know, Mallory?"

"Oh, I'd been hearing them from my suite while he was still outside, then I saw her sneaking him out of her room the first night."

Rey laughed, "You snuck him out of the house?"

"I didn't want GAP seeing that I broke her rule."

Reyghan laughed harder.


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

We were just finishing getting ready, Reyghan, Mallory, and I together.

"You girls look amazing," mom said as she came over to our side of the barrier set up by the stylists and the make-up artists. They had decided to do us girls separately from the elders.

"Thank you!" we all said in unison.

"What time are the boys coming?" mom asked.

"They should be here at any minute," Mallory said.

"So…Aunt Persephone has gotten a special treat for you girls tonight," mom hissed so that no one else could hear that she had divulged just that bit of information.

"What is it?" all of us asked excitedly.

"I can't tell you yet, but you won't want a return on it!" she laughed as she left our side of the preparation area.

My make-up artist, Graham, just finished my make-up and my hair stylist, Wilson, had finished the last curl in my medium hair going over my left shoulder, all of it had been straightened then swept over and pinned to the left and curled at varying degrees of tightness in an elegant style; I loved it. Wilson had added something or other to my hair that was sea foam green that otherwise wouldn't have been recognized if not for the gown with the dye job he did, making my hair a jet black instead of its natural off-black and auburn. The gown made everything I had on me pop. Graham had done a great job at getting the gold flecks in my light brown eyes to pop from the dress with the color palette of greens used to make a smoky eye with the right liner and mascara to bring my eyes back out; my lips were accentuated in a soft pink lipstick, about the color of my natural lips, but made to stand out with a bit of gloss.

I had chosen light jewelry. Just simple pearls because my gown sparkled on its own, it needed something to kind of turn the tides, something that could hold its own against the gown; not make it too flashy. So I chose pearls, which [to me] are the next elegant thing in the world next to diamonds- which I had _originally _lunged for in the selection process. I had a pair of short dangly earrings in my first hole, a much shorter pair that just came off the ear in my second, a small stud in my cartilage, and a very tiny stud in my nose- all pearls. I had also chosen a tiny pearl on a ring on my forefinger on the right hand, a string of medium sized pearls for my necklace, two strings of medium sized pearls for my wrists.

Just when I had begun thinking about him, Nile walked in.

"Hello?" he called.

"Hi," I said, my hair being tossed around at the time by Wilson to make the curls look "natural".

"You look fuckin' amazin'," Nile said.

That was the first time I'd heard him cuss- and using such a word too- it made me laugh hysterically.

"What?" Nile asked, laughing.

"Nothing, nothing," I tried to restrain my laughter but shook with effort.

Honestly, though, Nile was the one that looked "fuckin' amazin'". He had on this obviously expensive tuxedo. A very deep shade of black, and his cummerbund and vest were sea foam green to match my gown exactly. His shoes were so shiny; they glistened like an expensive dress shoe should. His blonde hair had been gelled and combed back out of his face. He brought his own kind of sophistication with him; a black bow tie tied around his neck.

"I brought you something," Nile said as he pulled a little royal blue box from behind his back.

I was curious, "What is it?" I smiled.

"It's the present I promised you." He opened the box ever so slowly and a silver necklace with a tiny silver heart hanging on the end. I gasped at its simplicity; I loved it immediately.

"Nile," I gasped, both Rey and Mal were looking at his present wide eyed.

"Is Reyghan back here?" a male voice asked.

"Back here," Rey called.

She had gone out with him the night before, making sure she actually liked this guy before she spent all night at a ball with him. She and Philip had hit it off well enough together that she had decided to have him around with her for the night. Apparently Philip had come from a noble family and he had happened to be in Mullingar with his family for the ball, anyway.

They kissed each other on the cheek before her make-up artist, Fredrick, frowned at them for it and bustled to "fix" her make-up. We were told not to kiss any of our guys, that's the only reason why I hadn't.

I returned my attention back to Nile, "I love it. May wear it now?"

"Sure," he said as he took the necklace out of the box. He put the necklace around my neck and fastened it. It hung just below the line of pearls; it was what I had needed to set the ensemble off.

"Get ready," GAP called to us from the other section.

"Shoes," my stylist, James, said as he brought my pair of slippers in front of me.

I lifted up heaps of the gown's skirts so that James could slide the crystal slippers that matched the pixie dust and glitter of the gown onto my feet. Nile held onto my elbow to support me.

"Is this a watch on your ankle?" James asked, looking up at me.

I laughed, "It is."

Nile raised an eyebrow in a jolly grin, "My watch?"

"Yeah," I nodded and grinned back.

James stood back up and I put my foot down, he stood back to behold me, actually Graham and Wilson did too. Nile beamed all over himself at me.

It seemed that Mallory's team and Reyghan's team had finished as well, because the same thing was happening to them.

"Mallory?" another voice called.

"I'm here," she called back.

Mallory's escort was named Dylan. She and he had gotten along really well from the start, she really liked him. They had hung out the night they met, after she took Rey and I back to the manor.

"Ready?" GAP called.

"We're ready, Great Aunt Persephone," Mallory called back to her.

We all walked out of the designated areas, the styling teams following, everyone admiring the work done.

"Yes, yes, everyone looks radiant," GAP said, waving off the compliment rounds. "We need to arrive."

We were all led to stretch limos, two, one for the elders, and one for us youth.

All of us got into our respective limos and then we were off to the ball, held at this posh hotel in Mullingar, no one ever bothered to tell me the name, sadly. All of us in our limo took at least one shot of liquor from the minibar. I told Rey that she could have a small shot; I always let her have some alcohol if it's around.

When we arrived, we were on "Queen Time", which put Reyghan on edge. Since mid-November 2011, Reyghan had suffered from anxiety disorder. It was a hard battle for our family to overcome, but as I'd been since my dad died, I kept everyone from falling apart. In April, during Spring Break, she had to spend a few days in a mental health facility. Even then, it was the longest time I'd been apart from her, even though we went to visit her every day. Actually, Carsen was there with us every day to visit Rey because she had spent a week there as well when we were thirteen to be diagnosed and treated for bipolar. Rey had been placed in the same room- the same _bed_- that Carsen had had, where Carsen had marked the days on the footboard and etched her phone number on the headboard. So, the fact that Carsen had been there, had stayed in the same room and bed, had visited every day, it helped ease Rey- at least for the 45 minutes we were permitted visit. Anyway, so, the doctors had put Reyghan on medication, and ever since, she had been getting better. But little things still made her extremely anxious, being late was one, and standing out too much in a crowd was another. This situation was both.

Everyone took the arm of their dates, GAP walking behind us because as hostess, she had to be the last announced. Rey and Philip were made to be first, then Nile and me, Mallory and Dylan, mom and Bill, then GAP.

Luckily, Rey had put a couple of her emergency anxiety pill in her clutch, and had taken one while we were in the limo, by my suggestion. The pill was to ease her anxiety within fifteen minutes, basically a tranquilizer, but it didn't make her loose (like the sister in _Sixteen Candles_), just a normal relaxed. She looked back at me, I gave her a reassuring nod, she took a breath, and then she and Philip stepped forward to the top of a grand staircase where she and Philip were announced to the guests of the ball.

"Miss Reyghan Kylle Marrin is escorted by Count Philip Charles Edmund Simmons of Wales," the announcer called.

Reyghan lifted her head, as I had instructed her to do earlier, and she fearlessly walked down the staircase in front of the couple hundred guests like she was a Lady herself.

I squeezed Nile's arm, a tiny bit nervous, and he just smiled at me and all the tension went away. I smiled my most charming smile and stepped forward with him to the top of the staircase.

"Miss Khyri Ryne Marrin is escorted by Mr. Nile Jacob Borran."

I walked down the staircase with elegance and grace, commanding attention to myself in the room for the time that my entrance was made.

"Dame Mallory Elisabeth Benson is escorted by Dr. Dylan Patrick Johnston."

"Mrs. Carroll Lynne Simon Marrin Benson escorted by Sir William Fredrick Charles Benson."

There was a long pause before GAP was announced. Everyone took their place around the ballroom to admire her. She stood at the top of the grand staircase with distinguished beauty, elegance, and grace.

"Lady Persephone Amelia Grace Windgate Whitloch."

Everyone showed respect to GAP and bowed as she made her slow decent down the staircase.

GAP made a speech when she reached the bottom, welcoming everyone, giving an anecdote, telling everyone to enjoy this festive Summer Solstice Ball.

Unfortunately, GAP made sure to shuffle our whole family and dates around to introduce us to the party guests, all of the dignitaries and leaders. I was bored to death.

When we'd made an arch around the room, she decided to let us mingle on our own.

"Would you like to dance?" Nile asked.

"Sure," I nodded.

The orchestra played classical music, I loved classical, but I hadn't heard the song before. It was a waltz tempo, so Nile placed a hand at my waist, I lifted up the skirts of my gown, and we took each other's hands as we placed ourselves in the center of the dance floor. Luckily, I had learned a couple ballroom dances for some plays that I had starred in but also from the training with GAP, and waltz was always my favorite.

Nile and I glided across the floor like we were floating on air. I was glad that I had chosen slippers instead of heels like my sisters. It was nice to feel light as air as I danced, even with my gown weighing a ton. Nile and I spun, eyes never leaving each other, following the flow of the rest of the dancers without ever realizing that they were in our presence. He and I were totally enamored with one another.

Abruptly, he and I were stopped by a young man that we had met earlier in the evening; I had no clue what his name was, but I did remember his face. He had smile lines with a charming white smile. His eyes were a dark ocean blue with combed back wavy chestnut hair. Honestly, I loved it when guys had brown hair with blue eyes, to me, it was attractive. Which is why when I was younger, I used to have a huge crush on Zac Efron and Daniel Radcliffe mostly because they both had brown hair and blue eyes.

"May I cut in?" he asked Nile with an English accent.

"Of course," Nile bowed his head. "I'll go get the two of us some drinks," Nile told me before he left me alone with this man.

"Hello," I bowed my head at the young man and smiled.

"Your name is Khyri, correct?"

"Yes, it is," I smiled dutifully. "I'm sorry; I seem to have forgotten your name."

"Collin," he smiled. "May I have this dance," he asked as the orchestra began the third movement of the song.

"Yes, you may," I said politely.

He grabbed a hold of my waist and I took his hand as we began to dance.

"Is this your first ball? I haven't seen you at any of the society functions," Collin asked me.

"This is my first," I nodded. "Lady Persephone is my new great aunt. My mother just married her nephew a couple months back."

"American or Canadian?" he asked.

"I'm American," I laughed.

"Where are you from?"

"Salisbury, Maryland. It's about two and a half hours drive from D.C."

"Do you visit there often?"

"Whenever I go to see my cousins who live up there, we go around the beltway. I've really only been in D.C. around fifteen times."

"D.C. is a brilliant city. I'd be there all the time."

"I find D.C. to be scary, I don't like to go anywhere but the historic parts."

"You admire history?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I do."

The third movement ended and Nile had come back with champagne in tall glasses for him and me.

"Thank you for the dance, Miss Khyri, it was wonderful," Collin said as he kissed my hand. "'Till we meet again," he said as we bowed to each other, then he and Nile bowed to each other and Collin walked away.

Nile handed me my glass as we walked off of the dance floor.

"Are you enjoyin' yourself?" Nile asked.

"I thought it'd be more upbeat than this. I guess, since I was a little girl, I'd built it up to high expectations," I admitted.

"Well, I heard from one of the guests that it's supposed to pick up."

"Great," I smiled as I sipped from my glass. "Mom said that Great Aunt Persephone has a present for us." I dared not call her GAP in front of her society people. That would just seem rude.

"It's expected to be big," Nile smiled like he knew something I didn't.

I raised an eyebrow. "You know."

"I do, but I'm not allowed to tell. Everyone here knows, but Lady Persephone told everyone that they weren't allowed to tell you girls what it is," Nile said as he polished off the rest of his glass. He changed the subject, "So, you and Reyghan are gonna perform tonight?"

I nodded as I took my last sip of the expensive champagne. "She only just told us three days ago. I usually like more preparation, but I think we should do fine."

"I can't wait to hear you sing. What will you be doin'?"

"She requested that we sing from musicals, preferably Broadway. So, we chose _For Good_ from _Wicked _and _Angel of Music _from _The Phantom of the Opera_ as duets. She also wanted us to sing solos so I chose _I Dreamed a Dream_ from _Les Miserables_ and _Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again_ from _The Phantom of the Opera_; Rey chose _Music of the Night_ from _The Phantom of the Opera_ and _I'm Not That Girl_ from _Wicked_."

"Those are all amazin', great, and hard songs!" Nile gasped.

"They are, but we have the training for it."

"She made you have a set list."

"Basically," I laughed.

Nile took my hand again after we sat down our glasses and he led me back out to the dance floor as Vivaldi's _Four Seasons_ was begun by the orchestra.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Introducing, Miss Khyri Marrin and Miss Reyghan Marrin," the emcee said before Rey and I stepped on stage.

We sang our songs, really well without the preferred practice, although both of us knew the songs we chose backwards and forwards, inside and out. The audience gave us rousing applause which made me smile like a loon; and looking down, I saw that the rest of my family was proud of us. Nile had a huge grin on his face. Rey and I bowed for the crowd and then exited the stage.

The first thing I did was find Nile who pulled me into his arms for a big bear hug. I laughed as he hugged me so tightly.

"That was amazin'! Khy your voice is fuckin' brilliant!"

Him saying "fuck" is like the funniest thing in the world; I laughed even harder. "I just trained for it. Mom used to scrounge up some money she had left over when we were kids to pay for us to take singing lessons. We had an amazing teacher."

"That's sheer talent," he said as he kissed my cheek. "Your voice is a fantastically pure soprano. I could have listened to you sing all night. And Reyghan's voice! Her alto! She has such range. You two should have sung all night-"

"Now, as a special treat for her three great nieces, the generous Lady Persephone, has arranged for a special group of young men to perform tonight," the emcee announced as he stepped back onto the stage.

Nile started to pull away from me, and turned me to face the stage as he began to walk away. I started to walk toward him but he smiled and gestured for me to stay where I was.

"May Mallory, Khyri, and Reyghan please come to the front so that we can see you?" the emcee called out.

Mal, Rey, and I found each other in front of each other and looked quizzically around as everyone else in the room were grinning like fools because they were in the know and we weren't.

"Everyone, welcome to the stage, THIS WAY!" the emcee yelled.

Mal, Rey, and I just looked at each other, totally surprised, then four boys and my boyfriend walked across the stage and it finally sunk in. For the first time, even though I knew he was famous, it really hit me that he was famous. When I realized that he would be singing with some of his best friends on stage, one of the biggest boy bands in the world, I started to scream and cheer them on as an instinct. I guess it hit Mallory and Reyghan, too, because they began screaming as well. Nile smiled down at us.

"Thank you very much Lady Persephone for inviting us to sing tonight," Leif said.

"This song goes out to my brilliant girlfriend, Khyri," Nile smiled as he pointed down the stage to me.

I grinned from ear to ear as _Why You're Gorgeous_ came across the speakers. The whole song, Nile looked at me as I sang along to the song with them. He looked at me like the song was written just for me.

They moved on to some of their other songs, each one, Rey, Mal, and I sang along to every single word. They performed _All That You Are_, _We Should've Snogged_, _My Hope_, _Greater Than That_, _Needs To Be Her_, _Certain Something_, _Seconds_, and _Cardio Theft._

The other younger girls, future dignitaries, were dancing and singing with us as This Way performed. Even royalty can party it up for a hot boy band.

"We are open to song requests," Harrie said.

I could tell already that he and Reyghan had a vibe going on. I laughed and shook my head.

"_Give Me Love_ by Ed Sheeran!" I called out.

Leif laughed and looked over at Nile. "We can do that."

"Only if you sing it with us…" Nile said, through his microphone, with a mischievous eyebrow raised.

"Khyri, come on up here," Lewis called.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yup! Khyri, bring your arse up here!" Lewis laughed.

I looked back at Rey and Mal who pushed me toward the stage with huge smiles.

I went around the stage to climb back up the steps as gracefully as I could in my gown to the stage before I was handed a microphone from the sound guy. I thanked him and stood between the five boys. I smiled widely as Nile took my hand.

The crowd saw us holding hands and the girls screamed and "awed" and cheered for us.

The music started and Nile took the first part of the song. I took the prelude to the chorus and then after that, the rest of the band joined in. The whole time, Nile and I had our eyes on each other. Somehow, the song was managed to be split up nicely without anyone having to say anything to anyone, it was like we had rehearsed it together before. Well, more like they had practiced it before with openings for someone else to sing with them, and I found those openings to use as my own.

When the song ended, people cheered, and I took a bow and stepped off the stage. I was smiling all over myself when I reached the arms of Mallory and Reyghan.

"You just sang with This Way," Mallory squealed.

"I know!" I squeaked back.

"Any other requests?" Zane asked.

"_Breakeven_ by The Script!" someone in the crowd called out.

"Sure, we can do that one," Zane nodded.

He lifted up his microphone after the intro was over and started singing the song. We all started singing with him. Leif took the chorus, and then Lewis took the verse. Leif sang the chorus again, and then Zane took the bridge. From there, everyone just took their own parts in the song. I was smiling the whole time at the great job they had done with the song.

Someone else from the audience had called out after they had finished the song, "Sing _The A Team_! Sing Ed Sheeran's _The A Team_," the girl had a thick Irish accent.

The song began and Nile started singing the song. Every time Nile had a solo, my heart swelled with pride. I loved seeing him doing what he loved, singing and performing for people.

When they finished this song, they said thank you to the crowd and to GAP for having invited them. They stepped off the stage and were rewarded by thunderous applause.

I bolted through the crowd to find Nile. I hugged him as tight as he had hugged me when I had finished performing.

"That was wonderful!" I said when I pulled back from him, a huge smile on my face.

He laughed with giddiness, "Thanks!"

"Why didn't you tell me before that you guys were performing?" I asked as I playfully smacked his arm.

He laughed harder, "No one was allowed to tell you three!"

"When did she do this?"

"She got up with our manager almost as soon as that brunch I had with your family was over. She wanted this to be a present for you three; she even added on the invite that this was a secret. That week I was gone, we were also rehearsing for tonight."

"That's not fair!" I laughed.

"But it _was_ fun seeing your faces," he laughed.

The emcee came back up to the stage, "We're going to return to classical music for the rest of the evening. Please enjoy the rest of your night."

"Let's grab Rey and Mal, there's some people I'd like for you three to meet," Nile said.

He walked with me hand-in-hand to gather Reyghan and Mallory to meet the rest of This Way.

"Lads, this is Reyghan, Mallory, and Khyri; Girls, this is Leif, Lewis, Zane, and Harrie," Nile introduced.

"Hi," all of us said, shaking hands with each other.

I saw Rey and Harrie shake hands a bit too long, and I choked back a giggle.

"You girls were extraordinary tonight," Leif said to Rey and me.

"Thank you," Rey and I said in unison.

"You guys were fantastic," I said.

"Yeah, you guys were an amazing present for us," Mallory said.

"We're glad to do this for Lady Persephone…and Nile," Leif said with a raised eyebrow and a smile on his face.

"We're the only people standing around…" Rey said as she noticed the rest of the guests dancing or eating.

Nile held out his hand, "Would you care to dance?" he asked me again.

"I would love to," I replied as I took his hand.

I waved goodbye to the rest of the band and glided back to the dance floor with Nile.

"You saw that right?" I asked as I began to dance closely with Nile in the midst of people.

"You mean Harrie and Reyghan?" Nile chuckled.

"Yup," I giggled. "I just hope he treats her right."

"What do you mean?"

"She's innocent. She hasn't ever kissed a boy," I divulged.

"Are you shitting me?" Nile asked, holding back a chuckle.

I actually let my laugh out, "I'm dead serious. She's liked guys, and all, even dated one for like a day, but she's never kissed a guy. She's barely done more than hold hands with a guy."

"Harrie really should take care of her, then," Nile agreed.

Nile and I danced together the rest of the night. I actually saw Rey dance with Harrie a time or two, but she made sure that she respected her escort for the evening and, for the most part, stayed with Philip. Mallory spent the rest of her evening dancing with Dylan. If I didn't know her better, I'd say she was smitten with him. Actually, I know her pretty well now, and I'm absolutely positive that Mal was falling for this guy.

Mom and Bill were walking around talking to the guests of the ball. They seemed to be enjoying themselves just doing that. I saw GAP a time or two dancing with some of the older widower dignitaries of the ball. They seemed to be totally enamored by her; she just seemed to be nothing more than polite to them.

By the time the ball was closed, I was a tired, and a tad cranky, but I was glad with the events of the night.

Nile had broken the news to me that he'd be gone for two weeks this time, leaving on Sunday. He'd be gone to America and Canada. It made me sad that I'd be apart from him longer, but I wasn't completely upset by it because I still had a couple more days to spend with him before he left. Our limo went around to drop the guys off first, because Nile's house was further out then where Dylan and Philip stayed, Nile was the last to be dropped off. I walked with him to his door, and thanked him for everything.

"It was my pleasure," he grinned.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll come over in the morning."

"If you have to wake me up, it'll be because I slept late, 'cause I'm exhausted," I laughed.

"I look forward to it," he chuckled.

He leaned in and kissed me passionately. "I love you, so much," I whispered, before I opened my eyes, before I lost my nerve.

"I love you, too," Nile said, before he grazed my lips one last time. It was the kind of kiss that made my heart stop and race. "I love you, greatly."

We slowly parted from each other, and walked back to the limo, I turned to look back at him and we waved to each other before I stepped back into the limo. The driver pulled off after Nile had opened the door to his house.

I basically fell asleep the way home; I don't even know how I made it up the staircase, to my room, and out of my gown before I collapsed on the bed.

I was out as soon as my head bounced on the mattress.


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Wake up, love," I heard softly in my ear.

The thick curtains of my suite were open enough to let the sunlight in and it was so bright that I could see yellow and red from behind my eyelids. It was so unpleasant for first waking up that I turned around in the bed to be away from the abrasive light and I pulled the covers over my head, making sure that my nose was peeking out. I fell back asleep that fast.

"Khy Khy, wake up," I heard in my ear again.

"I can't go yet," I groaned. "There's a ball. I have to dance. I have to be polite and graceful. I can't leave yet, they need me to sing. Then I'm gonna dance with Nile, some more. I have to. Can I go back, please?" I asked whoever it was who was sitting on my bed. I pulled myself to lie on their thigh. I didn't even care who it was. I just knew that I was comfortable lying on them. Their hand gently stroked my back.

"Just a bit longer," they agreed.

I went right back to sleep.

When I really woke up, I felt a hand on my back and a leg beneath my head. I remembered going to bed alone, and I sat up quickly, scared about someone else in the bed with me. When my eyes focused, I first saw perfectly tousled blonde hair. I looked around my room and saw the curtains open and then I realized that it was Nile, just sitting there on my bed, with a smile on his face; I instantly relaxed.

"Hi," I smiled.

"Hello," he grinned back. "I guess you're really awake now?"

"I was awake before?"

"You must've been dreaming about the ball 'cos you were talking about it and then you asked to go back. I let you sleep longer."

"Oh! Did I miss brunch? I'm gonna be in trouble!"

"No, no. Lady Persephone let me come up. She said that everyone was excused from brunch because we were all out so late."

"Oh," I sighed. Then…I looked down at myself and saw that I was just sitting there, tangled up in my blankets, but totally naked underneath. I looked up at Nile with shock on my face.

"What…?" he asked.

"Um…I'm naked," I mumbled.

"You're what?" he raised an eyebrow.

"I'm naked under here…"

"You sleep naked?"

"Not all the time. Last night I guess I just took off everything and got into bed."

I spotted my gown on the floor. Other things I had worn were in a pile near the bed.

"I slept on you…naked! Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry!" I backed myself up to the end of the bed, covers following me.

He laughed hard, "It's okay, Khy. You didn't know."

I knew I was a beet red. "Turn your head."

"Why?" he chuckled.

"I need to go take a shower!"

"You need to take a shower?!" he laughed.

"I didn't take one when I got back! I need to take a shower!" I laughed from embarrassment.

Nile turned away and covered his eyes while laughing as I made a mad dash for the bathroom.

I took my hair down and then climbed into the shower. I washed my hair and face and body multiple times before I sprayed myself with "Secret Wonderland"perfume. I dried off and then sprayed myself again and rubbed on lotion and brushed my teeth before I wrapped a towel around my hair and one around my chest to cover my privates.

I walked out of the bathroom to grab some clothes and underwear. Nile looked up at me as I rummaged through the dresser drawers.

"You have a really fit bum," Nile chuckled.

I stood up quickly and placed my hands over my butt.

He laughed really hard.

"When'd you see my butt?" I chuckled.

"When you ran to the bathroom," he confessed.

"Hey! You weren't supposed to look!"

"But I'm glad I did."

I shook my head, chuckling to myself and I continued to find the rest of my outfit, a pair of jeans and a bra. I turned as I went back to the bathroom to take off my towels and to put on my clothes.

When I came back out of the bathroom, I went right to my vanity to put product in my hair before starting on my make-up. I only did facial powder, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss. I combed my hair and blow dried it, and then brushed through it again.

I stood up before I said, "So, what are we gonna do today?"

"I thought we could just stay up here…" he wagged his eyebrows. "I brought some DVDs."

"Ooh! What'd you bring?"

"Horror movies," he laughed.

"Great, I love horror movies! Well, I like slasher flicks, anything else scares me. What'd you bring?"

"_Saw_ movies," he told me.

"I have been avoiding those movies for so long. I have been so scared to watch them," I admitted.

"Do you not want to watch it?" he asked, thoughtfully.

"I'll watch it with you," I nodded as I went to the windows to close them so that it was dark in the room, setting the scenery for the movies. I closed my bathroom because I knew I'd freak out with it open. We sat down on the sofa in front of the TV after Nile put the first movie in the DVD player.

Not too far into the movie, was I hiding my head in his neck and covering my ears to the sounds of the movie. He cuddled me and tried to make me feel safe the entire time, and I did, when I thought about the fact that I was safe in Nile's arms, and then something gory happened in the movie and I hid again.

When the movie ended, he asked if I wanted to watch the next one, and I nodded bravely. My bravery didn't last too long, because I freaked out at the sadistic games of the second movie. This time though, I decided to be less of a baby and I actually sat there and watched, with Nile's arms securely around me, while I kept my hands at my ears and I bit down on my bottom lip.

At the end of this movie, I slowly took my hands from my ears. Nile kissed the nape of my neck, "We don't have to watch anymore."

"Are you sure? We can watch the other ones if you want."

"No, I can tell you're completely frightened by the movies. We don't have to watch anymore."

I sighed with relief, "Thank you."

"Do you have any movies with you?"

"Just chick flicks and less sadistic scary movies," I said.

Nile chuckled, "'Chick flicks' are fine."

I got up knelt down to look through the DVDs I had stored in the cabinet under the TV.

Nile said, "Your bum…"

I looked up and laughed, "It's cute isn't it," I teased before I ducked my head back down to search. He laughed again, heartily.

I found a Patrick Dempsey where he goes to Scotland to be his best friend's maid of honor. I held up the movie, "Is this one okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," he agreed.

I took his movie out and put it back into its case, and then I put the Patrick Dempsey movie in. I sat back down with next to Nile when the movie started. He put his arms around me and I settled into him. We watched the movie in comfortable silence, Nile gently playing with my hair.

Around the time where Hannah's about to have her bachelorette party in the movie, Nile started kissing and nibbling at my neck. I giggled out of surprise. I slowly slid my hands down Nile's arms around my waist. He tightened his arms and held me close to him. I twisted in my seat and took my legs off of the sofa and put them on the floor. I kissed him on a tease and pulled away.

Nile leaned back in toward me and kissed me deeply. He leaned further forward as I fell backward on the sofa. He landed softly on top of me.

I wove my fingers into Nile's hair, and wrapped my legs around his to pull him closer to me. He pulled my waist closer to his waist and made my heart flip in my chest. I moaned softly as Nile kissed my neck gently. He lifted my V-neck shirt over my head, leaving behind just my bra. I pulled up Nile's T-shirt and took it off of him and tossed it somewhere in the room. His abdomen slid across mine and shivers ran down my spine.

I reluctantly moved to lift him off of me just a bit. "I can't go too much further."

"I can't either," he breathed.

"I can tell you can't," I laughed.

"Oh, no," Nile said, noticing that he was aroused, he moved lower so that he wasn't pressed right against me anymore.

I laughed harder and kissed him softly on the lips. "I made a promise to myself like five years ago, that I wouldn't have sex until I'm married, or that I'm absolutely sure that the guy is someone I'll marry one day."

"Well, I wasn't planning on having sex until marriage, either," he told me.

"Great, I'm really glad that we got that out of the way. I was trying to figure out how to tell you."

"Me too, I wasn't sure if you'd understand. A lot of girls don't."

"Most guys don't." He kissed me again before I said, "Just make sure you let me know your limits, okay?"

"Let me know yours. I'll never go further than you let me."

"I know you won't," I knew he wasn't lying. I decided the serious time should be over so I said, "I make you happy, huh?"

"Of course you-" he started and I started laughing. It took him a minute to get what I meant. I laughed harder when he finally got it and he laughed with me. "Oh, you think that's funny?"

"Yes!" I laughed because it had become hard to stop. By this time, the DVD had been on its home menu for seven rounds of the background music.

I grinned up at him, "Hey," I waited until his eyes were focused on mine. "I'm glad I make you happy, in both respects." I kissed him deeply, wrapping my arms back around him.

His hands softly caressed me and I shivered again. "I see I make you happy, too," Nile breathed.

"You do," I said as I kissed him again. I firmly pulled my fingers down his back and felt him get even more aroused. He kissed my neck and then kissed me right between my breasts before he lifted off of me.

He went to the DVD player and took the movie out and just grabbed a random one and put it in. He had put in _Shrek_ and I sang along to the opening song as I sat up straight on the couch.

"I'm just warning you, I know just about every word to this movie," I told Nile.

We sat the way we had before, his legs stretched out, one on the sofa, and one on the floor, both of mine on the sofa, my back leaning against his front. The movie went on and we laughed and recited lines together. He continued to caress me, running his fingers up my sides, down my abdomen, along my arms, around my shoulders, across my collar bone and chest. It made me lose my breath.

"Miss Khyri, Mr. Nile, dinner is served," Jason said from the other side of the door.

"Thank you," I called to Jason. I asked Nile, "Are you staying?"

"I wasn't going to leave until it's late."

"Good. I like having you here," I said as I found my shirt and put it on.

I looked over at my gown still on the floor and decided to pick it up and put it on a hanger.

When Nile found his shirt, we switched off the TV and walked hand-in-hand down to the dining room.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Nile, I was very pleased with your performance with your band last night," GAP said, almost flippantly.

"Thank you, Lady Persephone. The lads were more than willin' to perform for you when I told them about your request."

"That's nice. How did you five become famous?"

"We all auditioned as solo acts for the _X Factor_ reality television competition. Then, our mentor, Simon, decided that we'd be great fits singin' together, so he made us into a band."

"So you lads won the competition?"

"No, we came in third place, but we still got a record deal."

"That's nice. Khyri, Reyghan, you also did well last night. I was very much pleased."

"Thank you, Great Aunt Persephone."

"You have extraordinary voices. You two could be something like Nile is, someday."

"We hope to be," Rey and I said together.

"Will you be on Broadway?"

"I want to be on the radio," I told her.

"With your sister?" GAP asked.

"We really don't sing together much, now that we've gotten older," I said.

"We mostly have a different taste in music," Rey said.

"Rey usually sings with her best friend, Kasey. They have beautiful harmonies, their voices fit well together."

"And you, Khyri. Do you sing with a friend?" GAP asked as she took a sip of her wine.

"No, Great Aunt Persephone, I sing alone."

"Your voice is splendid, no doubt about it," GAP nodded.

"Thank you, Great Aunt Persephone," I said, gratefully.

"So, what did you do today?" Bill asked.

"We watched movies," Nile answered.

"What movies did you watch?"

I replied, "We watched two of the _Saw_ movies, they scared me so much, we didn't even bother to watch the others. Then we watched _Made of Honor_, and we got about halfway through _Shrek_ when dinner was ready."

"Sounds interesting," Bill nodded.

"It was, after we finished the first two movies," I chuckled.

"Mallory? Reyghan? What'd you two do today?" Bill asked.

I continued to eat my meal and sip my wine as Rey talked about what Kasey had told her had been happening back home so far this summer. Mallory told of how she had gone out to lunch with Dylan today.

"How was it?" I asked Mal with a raised eyebrow.

"It was fun. I really like him."

"I could tell last night," I laughed.

"That obvious?" she asked, self-consciously.

"Not to anyone who doesn't know you," I assured her.

"When will we officially meet this young man?" mom asked.

"I'm not sure yet," Mallory said as she took a sip of wine. "When I am sure that he'll last, then I'll bring him by."

Mom talked about the gardening she and Bill did today, and GAP talked of overseeing the cleanup from the ball. And then we were dismissed from dinner.

Nile and I walked up the stairs, back to my suite.

"What's your life like back in Salisbury?" Nile asked as he ran his fingers over my hands, memorizing every freckle on the back of my hand, every thin brown line on my palm.

I thought about it for a second. "Boring," I chuckled as I chose my word.

Nile chuckled, "What do you do there for fun?"

"Usually I just kick back with my friends. During the summer, we go down to the "Cove" or to Ocean City or to Chincoteague to the beaches. If I go to the beach, I stay in the water most of the time. If I go with Ness, one of my best friends, she is the friend that will stay out in the water with me the whole time. If I go with my friend, Sienna, we're on the Boardwalk or on the beach most of the time. But Salisbury really isn't fun. There are places to hang out, but they get boring. I don't like spending money on useless stuff shopping at the mall, and I don't have the money to spend at the movies all the time. Other than that, there are only places to eat."

"I'd be out to eat all the time," Nile laughed.

"If I had the money, I would too," I agreed.

Nile raised an eyebrow, "Have you ever thought of leavin'?"

"It's my home, and I love it- I do, but I want to leave Salisbury more than anything."

"Where would you go if you left?"

"I'd go to LA," I said as I took his hands to memorize and run my fingers over softly.

"To sing?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said thoughtfully. "That's all I've ever wanted to do."

"I'd buy your music. Your voice is angelic."

"Thank you! I have videos up on YouTube, but they haven't gotten very many views. I don't know how to boost the views…"

"Don't worry, your voice will speak for itself," he looked into my eyes and said it with earnest.

"I hope so. I feel like I'm suffocating to death in Salisbury. It was a good place to grow up, a great place for someone to raise a family, not a good place to stay."

"Where would you raise a family?"

"You mean like if I had my choice? Like my fantasy for raising kids?"

"Yeah, your ultimate pick."

"If I could have my pick, I'd choose an English countryside manor, or a mansion in LA or Salisbury. I want my kids to have the childhood I never had. I never want them to have to worry if the rent will be paid on time, or if food will have to be rationed to make it to the next pay check, or if they'll have to bundle up in the house during the winter because the heat was shut off or just that the cable or phones went out because the bill wasn't paid on time. I want them to never even know that those kinds of things happen to people until they're older."

"That used to happen to you?" Nile asked concerned.

I nodded, "It did until mom married Bill. They fell in love and he proposed with this huge-ass solitaire diamond ring, and he paid for everything. None of us knew he was rich until then. He told mom that we'd never struggle for anything again, that he'd take care of us."

"I'm glad that things turned out for the best. But the other stuff must have been hard."

"It wasn't as bad as it could've been, we always found a way. I always knew we'd be okay. Mom used to worry so much, though. I used to tell her all the time that God would take care of us, that she never had to worry for much longer because, He would provide."

"And He did?"

I smiled, mostly to myself, "Every single time. I remember, one afternoon, mom was crying and came into mine and Rey's bedroom telling us to pray that she'd find a way to get the rent paid. I just looked right at her and said, 'the rent's gonna get paid.' She looked right at me and asked how. I told her that God was gonna pay it. I remember her just nodding and leaving the room. I had laid down to take a nap…and the next thing I knew, she had bustled in to wake me up and excitedly asking, 'how'd you know that?' I had just asked her what she meant, forgetting what had even happened before I took the nap, and she said that the landlord had called and said that the rent was already paid; someone had taken care of it. She asked me how I knew, and I had told her that I knew that God would take care of us."

"How'd it happen? Who paid it?"

"I don't know; they never gave their name."

"That's amazin'…!" Nile wondered.

"That's something I'm gonna do if I get famous. My family was never below the poverty line, but we always had to struggle, and there wasn't any financial help that we could get. If I get famous, I'd give help to people who are just above the poverty line who struggle to make it."

"That's a very noble cause," Nile smiled with pride.

"It's the least I can do," I yawned.

"You sleepy?" he asked.

"A little," I admitted.

My eyes were getting heavy and I was relaxing into the cushions on the sofa.

"Will you stay 'til I go to sleep?" I yawned again.

"Of course. Do you wanna move to the bed?"

"Nope, I'm good here."

Nile opened his arms and I crawled over and into his arms. We lay down together on our sides. He made sure I was tucked between him and the plush back of the sofa so that I wouldn't be cold while I slept. I was turned to face the back of the sofa, and so was he. He wrapped an arm around my waist, making me feel safe and secure.

"Will you sing to me?" I asked him drowsily.

"What would you like to hear?" he chuckled.

"Anything," I smiled.

He kissed me on the top of my head. He then began singing _Your Song_ by Elton John.

I smiled to myself as I drifted in and out of consciousness, being soothed by Nile's voice, his hands entwined with mine.

Just before I fell asleep, I mumbled, "I love you, Nile."

"I love you, too, Khyri," he said when he interrupted himself singing a song I'd never heard before.

Not much longer after he had resumed the song, had I fallen asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I was lying on my bed, under the covers. I had managed to kick off my jeans and pull over my bra in my sleep. I could tell I had done it because they were halfway off my body. Anyone else would have taken them off completely.

I got up and got ready for the day before I made my way downstairs for brunch.

"That is a very nice young man that you have, Khyri," GAP said.

"Thank you, Great Aunt Persephone. I think so, too."

Mom elaborated, "We saw him on his way out last night. Bill, Aunt Persephone and I had stayed up talking, and he had told us that you were asleep upstairs and that he was seeing himself out. Apparently, you had fallen asleep on the sofa, so he had tucked you into your bed."

"I was wondering how I had gotten there…" I said distantly. "He promised he wouldn't leave until I was asleep."

"He seems like a special guy," Bill smiled.

"He is, Bill," I gushed. "He's absolutely wonderful."

"Do you see a future with him?"

"I haven't really thought about it, yet. I guess so…yeah… Yeah, I can see a future with him…" I marveled.

After that, I know people said things to me, but I answered flippantly. I was nowhere near focused on what they had to say. I was lost in the future I was imagining with Nile.


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"You actually went to a ball?!" Carsen squealed through the computer screen.

I was on a three-way video chat with Carsen and Vanessa. Vanessa had told us about how her boyfriend, Xander, of two years had dropped more hints about an engagement ring he may or may not be proposing to her with on their up and coming anniversary. She was worried about how her mom would feel because her mom feels that Ness and X are too young to be so serious, even though they've been in a serious committed relationship since they were sophomores. I was all for them getting married someday. They'd have the cutest babies! X was mixed and had bright hazel eyes, and her blue eyes were radiant. Her hair was a pale blonde, and his was a brown and black mixture. They'd make gorgeous children together. They were the high school sweethearts, everyone was sure would make it.

Carsen had told us about how she was finally going to file child support for Claire's father, Jacob. I had told her that it was about damn time. I had hated that asshole ever since he broke Carsen's heart when we were thirteen. It bugged me how he seemed to have this hold over her that he kept reeling her back in over the years, even though she knew that she deserved much better than him. The only good thing he _ever _did was father Claire. After that, he didn't do very much for her but pass her off to his uncle when it was his turn to take her whenever he and Carsen were broken up. But this time, Carsen had assured me that she had dumped him for good this time, and I was unbelievably proud of her.

"You're so lucky!" Carsen added.

I updated them on everything that had happened, since being grounded. I told them how well the dinner I had made with him had gone, as well, but that it had caused the grounding.

They laughed.

"We said 'be romantic', not 'get yourself grounded'," Vanessa laughed.

"I didn't mean to get grounded!"

"Now, you finally know what it feels like," Carsen teased.

"It wasn't so bad…" I smiled.

"How was being kept in your room with no entertainment not bad?" Ness asked.

"He'd come and visit me every night."

"Details!" they both shouted.

"There isn't too much to tell…other than that he sung to me and he came up and slept with me when the week was halfway over-"

"You _slept _with him?!" they shrieked.

"Not like that," I laughed. "He just slept with me…just that. But we made out though before we went to sleep each night."

"Ooh La La," Ness beamed.

"Is he good?"

"He's a great kisser. His touch…it makes me shiver," I giggled.

"So, this is the real thing?" Carsen asked.

"I hope so. I don't even see the future without him in it anymore… Is that bad?"

"A little soon…" Ness said at the same time as Carsen said, "That's not bad…"

"It's like my head is saying that it's way too soon to feel that, but my heart is telling me that it's okay."

"When are we gonna get to meet him?" Ness asked.

"I wanna find out about this boy," Carsen agreed.

"I don't know when you'll get to…"

A knock came at my door and I called for the person on the other side to come in. When the door cracked open and Nile strolled in… I automatically ran to him. I didn't even notice the lavender colored roses he had in his hand until I pulled away.

"I thought I'd surprise you with them," he beamed down at me.

"They're beautiful, I love them," I said as I sniffed them. "How'd you know that lavender roses were one of my favorites? And the white ones you sent last time…and the fact that there were thirteen then…" I counted the bouquet, "and this time?"

"I remember that you said that your lucky number is thirteen. And white roses…their meanin'. I chose the lavender ones this time for their meaning, but also 'cos I've seen that purple is your favorite color, yeah?"

"It is. Thank you, Nile," I smiled up at him before I reached up on my toes to meet him in the middle for a kiss.

"Hello! We're still online here!" Carsen called from the laptop.

"Is he there? Is that Nile?" Ness asked.

I laughed as I towed him with me toward my bed. "There is a couple of very important people that you have yet to meet," I smiled at Nile.

"Vanessa, Carsen, this is Nile. Nile, this is Vanessa, and this is Carsen," I said as I pointed to their stunned faces on the screen.

"Hi," he smiled and waved to them through the webcam.

Her mouth agape, Ness asked, "This is him?"

I nodded as I beamed.

"He's hot!" Carsen blurted out.

All of us cracked up laughing. I managed to get out, "He _is _hot, isn't he?"

Carsen feigned a serious face and asked, "What are your intentions with our little Khyri?"

Nile answered honestly, "I want to be the best boyfriend I can be for her."

"Aw!" Carsen cooed.

"How old are you, Nile?" Ness asked.

"I'm eighteen," he said.

"I'm gonna ask you the same question we just asked Khy Khy: Do you think this is the real thing?"

"I absolutely believe that this is the real thing," Nile admitted.

After they both got their "protective sisters" questions out of the way, Ness settled into her regular personality. I know I haven't said much about it, and you've gotten the picture that Ness is a stiff, but that is the furthest thing she is. That girl is a little ball of hyper energy, Carsen too. I can't believe out of the three of us, I'm the only one officially diagnosed with ADD. But Ness is mostly only serious when it comes to relationships, mostly mine.

The four of us talked and had fun and light conversations that afternoon. I felt like the girls got a good sense of Nile and trusted that he and I were great matches for each other. It was written all over their faces and the way they interacted with him. If they had a problem with him, like me, they would have spoken it right then and there and not regretted anything.

When things started to wind down and Ness said that she had to start getting ready for work soon and Bailey was running around the house the way three year olds do and driving Carsen crazy, we started signing off.

"You can't hurt her," Carsen decided to tell Nile.

"Yeah, I don't think I can stand seeing her as hurt as she was after Frankie again," Ness nodded.

"Theirs was the worst break up ever," Carsen agreed.

"Who's Frankie?" Nile asked.

"My ex," I told him.

"He was a terrible person," Ness hissed.

"He had me completely fooled," Carsen said angrily.

Ness said, "I liked him at first, then, I could tell he was a total douchebag when he, Rey, Khy, and I went on that walk together. Remember that, Khy?"

"Yeah, I remember it. By that time Rey already hated his guts. She's usually right about that crap; I should've listened to her earlier."

Ness laughed, "She does have a good horse sense about people. Then we went to Rita's Italian Ice after he left so that I could break it to you that I didn't like him."

"And the week after that, he and I were over," I added with a smile. "Best decision I ever made," I said at the same time Carsen and Ness said, "Best decision you ever made."

We three laughed it agreement.

"The bloke was that bad?" Nile asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

"Worse," Carsen said.

"Mommy!" Claire screamed in the background of Carsen's house.

"I've gotta go," Carsen said.

"I should get off, too, or I'll be late for work," Ness said.

"Okay," I nodded. "I love you, bye," I blew two kisses at them.

"Love you, bye," they waved and smooched.

I logged off of my laptop and put it on the left nightstand.

I caught Nile just looking at me and I smiled at him self-consciously. "What is it?" I asked.

"You've been heartbroken before?" Nile asked, his voice barely above a whisper. His face was full of pain at the thought that I had been in pain.

I almost thought about telling him the "strong girl" answer, but acted against it. I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to know the vulnerable side of me, the side that very few people get to see.

"He and I dated a month. We were friends before that, band mates, even. I had fallen for him. He thought he was a pastor," I laughed. "That was the side he liked showing to people. But really, he was manipulative and controlling."

"In what way?" Nile asked, tears forming in his eyes.

"I told him secrets, things about my daddy, and he would use it against me. Did I tell you that I used to smoke?" I asked.

Nile shook his head.

"I never was addicted or anything, I would just do it because it was the only legal thing that I could do when I turned eighteen. I started on my birthday last year; I would smoke with the friends I had made on my college campus, never alone. A couple of them were my future band mates.

"We had formed a Christian band. We were pretty good, too. And then, our bassist, Steven, who had put the band together, had brought his friend, St. Francis, to our band practice to check us out when we were still in our garage phase." I stopped myself to smile bitterly at the story I was telling.

"Frankie and I had been vibing on each other from that night on; especially after Steven had added him to the band as our rapper. Frankie had asked me to deepen our relationship as friends around mid-January, and asked me to be his girlfriend in the beginning of February. Mom loved him like a son, Bill liked him well enough, and even Rey liked him for a while there. They had a brother/sister relationship early on.

"I had cooked a huge meal for everyone one night, and mom had told him about how she and daddy had gotten together. I had talked about my dad around him. Somewhere in the good time of the relationship, he had said that he would talk to my daddy sometimes when he would pray and that had sold me on him completely, because I still talk to my dad even though he's up in Heaven. I still let him in on what's going on in my life, and the fact that he had said that he talked to my daddy too, made him irresistible to me.

"But not too long after that, our relationship started to go badly. Frankie would lord over me how girls at his job at Wal-Mart would flirt with him and try to get with him though they knew he was taken.

"The guitarist of our band, Alex, was like a big brother to me, and he had been friends with Frankie for a long time. A lot of my college friends had known Frankie a long time, and they didn't like him much, some had warned me to break up with him. He had taken advantage of a lot of girls, one of them happened to be Alex's little sister. So he was very adamant that since he hadn't been able to take care of his own little sister before, he'd take care of me from Frankie this time.

"Frankie would say that he hated the fact that I smoked, even though he would smoke a pack and a half a day and I would only smoke one or two a day or every couple of days (only at school though). I had told him how my daddy used to smoke before he died and that I had once told my daddy that I wouldn't smoke when I grew up; but I was eight then. But Frankie would use that against me, and would say that if I wanted to stay in a relationship with him, then I'd have to quit smoking. And I did, I quit smoking.

"Then, one Wednesday, Alex and I and some of our close friends from college, had performed at a restaurant's open mic, and went back to Alex's house that night for drinks to celebrate a job well done. Everyone had been drinking, so I didn't think anything of it when we all just slept over at Alex's house so that none of us drove with alcohol in our systems. I slept on Alex's loveseat in the living room, none of the guys who had spent the night were anywhere near us girls in the living room. In fact, I was the first one to fall asleep.

"But I felt that it would make me a good girlfriend to tell Frankie what had happened. Keep in mind that mom wasn't happy that I had slept over a straight guy's house, even though he had slept with his girlfriend, and I had slept in a room with all girls, but she thought it was responsible that I didn't drive home or get in the car with anyone who had drank. Frankie flipped shit though. He told me that I had to text everyone who was there that night and tell them that I couldn't be friends with them anymore. And, though I was bawling, I had done it. I hated the fact that I was saying goodbye to some of the best people I had ever met in my life. I've never been one to give up on friends. But he sat there and watched me text every single one of them. He even said that I should get rid of Ness because he heard her jokingly tell me that she'd roofie her boyfriend, X, on prom night so that they could have 'mind-blowing sex'; and also that I should get rid one of my closest friends, Sienna, because she was considering having an abortion. But he wasn't quite as strict with those two, but he would've been if we'd dated longer."

Nile had tears slowly streaming down his face by this point, and seeing him cry made hot tears spring into my eyes.

I choked up before saying, "That night he had also said that he knew that I worked out, but that I should more because I was too fat. I'd never been insecure about my body until he said that."

Nile's eyes filled with rage behind the tears he shed.

"After Frankie went home that night, Alex called me. He and his girlfriend, Dena, who was like a big sister to me, and her best friend, Sarah, who I've known since I was a freshman and she was a sophomore in high school and was also a big sister to me, were wondering why all of the sudden I had sent them that text. They had called from work; they all worked at the same restaurant. By this time, Rey had hated Frankie for like three weeks. She had heard what I had done and sat there with me while I was on the phone with Alex, Dena, and Sarah. Alex knew that it wasn't my doing to stop being friends with them, that Frankie had told me to. After a long conversation with them, I had been a mess. They told me that we were still cool though, and we were. I'm still great friends with them. But a couple days later, I had decided to break up with Frankie. I was heartbroken, but I knew I had to get out of that situation before it got worse.

"That's the whole story, mostly. Honestly though, if people hadn't kept telling me that he and I were supposed to be together when he and I were dating, I wouldn't have stuck with him for so long. Not long after we broke up, he became a drunk and a heavy drug abuser and started dating one of the girls who would flirt with him at Wal-Mart. He lost his pastoral title. And I spiraled into self-loathing and grief.

"He told everyone that I was the bad guy in the situation, and a lot of people believed him. I didn't even like leaving the house for a while. I quit the band a few weeks after he did because everyone in the band except for Alex, who had also quit the band, had stayed friends with Frankie and always talked about him and how sad it was that he and I had split up. I didn't really talk to anyone much but mom, Bill, Rey, Carsen, Ness, my close friend, Brea, and Sienna. Only time I really left the house was for school, and to party every other week with Sienna or Alex so that I could be wasted and wouldn't have to deal with thinking about him. I even stopped going to church and gave up being a Christian for a bit."

"That fucking asshole!" Nile said with quiet rage about Frankie.

He pulled me to him in a tight hug. My tears finally ran down my face and I buried my head in Nile's chest. He kept whispering to me how much he loved me, and how sorry he was that I had to experience that, and that I'd always be safe with him.

I spoke again, "After a couple months, I got over him. I started talking to people again, I renewed my faith, and I stopped drinking to pass out. I picked myself up and carried on. I never told anyone how much pain I was in, but I knew that they could all see. But I'll never forget their faces when they realized that I was finally alright. That I was back to my old happy self."

"Was that what you were crying about that time in the pasture?" he asked genuinely.

"It probably was. I didn't cry about it after the night I broke up with him. I kept it all in. I guess I needed to cry about it one last time before moving forward."

"I'm glad that you're happy again. And I'm glad that his loss is my greatest gain," Nile said before he kissed me so deeply that it was like I had felt his heart explode with the love that he had for me. It made my heart swell in return with the deepest love for Nile.

Let me just add, even though my time with Frankie was terrible, it was a life experience I wouldn't trade for anything, and that I am grateful that I learned from it.

When Nile and I finally came up for air, Nile said, "So, I asked the chef downstairs to make us food tonight."

"What's happening tonight?" I asked.

"We're having a picnic," he smiled widely.


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"I still don't understand how you did it," I laughed as Nile poured wine in both of our glasses.

"Lady Persephone loves me; what can I say? It's my Irish charm!" he laughed.

"Irish charm works on old Irish women?" I smiled with feigned skepticism.

"Apparently," he grinned.

"You're too cute for your own damn good," I laughed again before drinking my wine.

"I'm glad you swear. I like a girl who can swear," he nodded.

"I swear too much sometimes. Especially in my head. I have such a bad mind," I nodded, teasingly.

"That's great, too! I won't have to hold back all the time!"

"You've been holding back?!"

"Nope," he smiled.

He and I laughed together.

We were sitting in GAP's extensive garden in her back yard among some of the most beautiful plants I'd seen in my life. Nile had convinced her to let us blow off dinner that night so that we could have a romantic picnic together, and she had just _offered_ to him her garden. Did I mention that she had done so with a smile on her face? A SMILE! GAP totally adored Nile.

"What's it like to be famous?" I asked the burning question on my mind since I found out that he was.

"I don't consider meself as famous."

"Okay…What's it like to be popular…on the global scale?" I smiled.

He laughed. "It's fun. I love the traveling, eating, people, eating, performing, eating…!"

"That sounds like my kind of checklist. I'd love to be doing that kind of stuff."

"Then why aren't you? Your voice is brilliant! You should be singing full time by now."

"Not everyone made it through the first round of the X Factor," I said.

"You tried out?" he gasped.

I nodded, "And I didn't make it."

"Leif didn't his first time either. I'm sure you'll make it."

"It's okay if I don't, really. I love singing, it really is what I want to do, but I do have something to fall back on."

"What is it?"

"English. I've always been good at it. I am studying to be an English teacher."

"Wow! What year would you teach?"

"I want to teach twelfth or ninth grade, mostly because I loved the content that I learned in those grades. Or I'd teach preschool. My twelfth grade year, I did this thing called Teacher Practicum where I got to be like an assistant teacher for my ninth grade English teacher. I had so much fun when I was doing it, I was sure that if I didn't make it singing, that was what I wanted to do. I love kids. I love making a difference in their lives. Actually, just before we got here, I had volunteered at the school where mom works to help out with the fifth and third graders for a month."

"You didn't have university?"

"No, I did, but it always lets out in early May, and I didn't like just sitting at home with nothing to do."

"So you're going back in autumn?"

"No. I'm taking the semester off. Regrouping, I guess."

"Why would you take off?"

"It'll sound hella stupid," I laughed nervously.

"Just tell me," he smiled.

"I know it'll sound boastful, but it's true; only a couple people who know me get it. When I was a kid, I was put in low classes because I'm ADD. In those low classes, I got terrible grades, so they kept me in the bottom classes. When I was in third grade, my Geography/English teacher saw that I had the potential to do better work if I were in higher classes, so she got together with my mom and petitioned that they put me in the top level classes. From there, I got A's and B's in all of my classes. You following along?" I asked.

"For the most part, yeah," he nodded.

"Then, at the beginning of middle school, for whatever reason, I was placed in the bottom level classes again, and failing almost everything, except for the extracurricular classes that everyone had to take. This time, mom petitioned to go against my teachers recommendations to keep me in lower level classes for the seventh grade. I was put back in the top classes again and got A's and B's in everything for the rest of middle school. And in high school, I got to choose my classes for myself, and I always chose the challenging classes offered. My grades in high school never dipped below a 3.7 GPA. But I couldn't afford to go to a university; I had to start at a community college. I only had a short list of classes that they offered to first year students to choose from, and all of them were easy. I only had one challenging course and that came in the second semester. Every single course I had, even my English courses, I failed at, except for the challenging Education course that they let me take, which I got an A in."

"So…you can't do easy work?"

"Not at all," I huffed. "It doesn't hold my attention. Mom would get frustrated with me and say 'if you just do the work you can get out of the classes that you hate and do the ones you'll like'. But it isn't that easy. I really cannot do it if it doesn't hold my attention. So, in the spring, I'm going to sign up to go to Salisbury University. It's a great school and it has all of the courses that I want. Plus I've heard people talk about how challenging they are. I'm actually really bummed that I couldn't get in until the spring. I'm psyched to get started."

"You're psyched to get started at uni…that's something different."

"I'm such a nerd, right?" I laughed.

"It's fine…I'm a nerd too," he said as he twisted some of my hair around his finger. I've come to love that gesture.

"You are?" I smiled, pleasantly surprised.

"I always got top marks in school."

"We just keep finding out that we're more and more alike."

"I like it," he smiled.

"I do, too."

"I'm gonna miss you when you're gone. What'll you be doing over there?"

"Interviews, working on the new music video, recording some more songs for the new album," he told me.

"What's the new video called?"

He smiled sadly, "We aren't allowed to tell anyone yet."

"We'll see each other again in July. It seems like such a long time."

"I'll be back in time for the Olympics. We'll watch every second together."

"Great! I'm so looking forward to watching it. I love the Olympics."

"What's your favorite events?" Nile asked.

"Swimming and gymnastics. There's a girl swimming who went to my old high school, she's actually Ness's little sister's friend; and I also want Michael Phelps to make that record, especially since he's from my state. And the Fab Five, I am routing for them, and they guys gymnastics too. What about you?"

"I have a friend who's from here goin' to the Olympics. I'm gonna be yellin' for him the whole time."

"I can't wait to see what they're doing for the Opening Ceremony. It's the perfect thing to get everyone hype for the Games."

"Oh! What time is it?" Nile asked as if he just recalled that he had to leave soon.

"It's…eight thirty," I said, checking the watch I kept on my ankle.

"Shit! I have to go; I haven't started packing for tomorrow yet."

"So soon?!" I asked, crushed.

"Yeah," he nodded, sounding the same as I had.

We got up and gathered the contents that we had brought out for the picnic. The chef caught us as we walked back inside and took our load from us and Nile politely thanked him again for having his staff whip up a separate dinner for the two of us.

GAP saw us as we were headed outside, "The dinner over so soon?"

"Yes, milady," Nile said. "Khyri was just walkin' outside with me. My band and I are goin' to the States tomorrow."

"How long will you be gone?" She asked like she was as sad to see him leaving as I was.

"We'll be gone for two/two and a half weeks."

"Well, we'll have a big dinner waiting for you when you get back, alright, love."

"Thank you, Lady Persephone," Nile beamed.

I just smiled at the whole thing; it really was adorable how they cared for each other.

Nile and I walked outside after GAP had told us to run along. I shut the huge door behind us, as Nile and I just stood there.

"I'll miss you," I told him.

"I'll miss you, too. I want you to meet some people here, they're really great. Make some new friends while I'm gone. I don't want you to be lonely."

"I'm not lonely," I said defensively.

"Khyri…"

"I'm not _that _lonely," I admitted.

Nile smiled at me, he fiddled with the necklace he had given me, still hanging proudly around my neck.

"I'll make new friends, I promise," I told him.

His smile grew wider and he lifted his eyes from the necklace to my eyes. I could see from his eyes his true sincerity and purity and honesty. I loved those things about him. I loved him to pieces.

He stepped closer to me, my back nearly to the door, but the passion of the kiss he planted against my lips, and the pressure of his body against mine had me firmly pressed against the door in no time. I held him close to me, like I never wanted him to leave me. I didn't.

He pulled back finally, both of us slowly sucking in air, our faces close. I hadn't even been able to open my eyes; that was how powerful the kiss was.

"I think we should do that again, just for good measure," Nile breathed.

"I think we should," I said before pressing my lips flush against his.

His hand dipped lower than my waist, this time. He actually cupped my butt a little bit and it made me smile, he had me tightly against him. I wanted more. I wanted to feel his skin against my skin again.

I had to pull back because the urge to take off his shirt, his pants, right then and there was too overwhelming.

"Have fun in America. Think about me while you're gone," I whispered.

He pressed his lips to my forehead before he spoke, "Think of me while I'm gone. I love you."

"I love you, too," I said. I wrapped my arms around him in a hug that we shared before we released each other.

"Have fun," we both called to each other before I went inside and when he was halfway up the drive.

"Hey, stranger," Bill said as we happened walked up the stairs together six days later, after brunch.

"Hey, Bill, what's up?" I asked.

"Nothin' much," he said. "I'm takin' your mum to a pub today."

"You know she won't have more than one drink," I laughed.

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. "But she was the one who had asked me if we could go."

I laughed harder, "I love it when she tries to be adventurous and go to a bar. You know she can't handle her liquor."

"Don't I know it," he said as we stopped at the split that separated the elder's wing from ours.

"You heard from Nile today?" he asked.

"Yeah, he shot me a text to say that he's in New York and that he loves me."

"That boy is head over heels for you. I can see that you feel the same way for him."

I smiled to myself, "I do."

"I know that you two spend a lot of time alone with each other. Are you two really staying safe?" Bill raised an eyebrow.

"We aren't having sex," I chuckled. "I swear we aren't. Neither of us wants to have sex before we're married."

Bill nodded content with my answer. "What will you be up to today?"

"Nothing really. I think I'm just gonna find my way in town some more instead of just jogging by everything."

"That's a great idea. How much money do you have left for this month?"

"I have more than enough for this month. I'm good, I promise."

"You've spent wisely?"

"You know I always spend wisely," I smiled.

I ruffled my hair before he turned to walk up the stairs to his wing, "I know you do."

I had walked into a local boutique, looking for nothing in particular. The shops really did remind me of the ones in Downtown Salisbury, and I loved it. I don't know if it was just the smells of the businesses or the friendly service, but I felt at home. Like, if I didn't think about it, if I tuned out the accents, if I didn't look at the different marking for the money, if I didn't realize that the fashions were slightly contrast, then I was back at home shopping along the One Way road that housed the small owned shops in Downtown.

"Khyri?" I heard someone call to me from behind. Who else in Mullingar knew me?

I turned slowly, and I saw a mop of perfectly messy chestnut brown hair and dark blue eyes behind thick brown lashes.

"Collin?" I asked.


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"I thought that was you!" he said. "You look cute in shorts and a jumper," he smiled with his bright white teeth. "It's a vast difference from your ball gown."

"What are you still doing here? The ball was over almost a week and a half ago."

"My family has a manor here. We're staying here for the rest of the summer," he said as he walked toward me, grinning.

"Joy. This town needs a Brit," I teased.

"Just like it needed an American," he laughed with me.

"We're always fun to have around."

"Yes, because you're so fun to pick on."

"Are you trying to battle wits, Collin? You'll lose."

"Oh, I don't think so, little girl."

"A hit at my height; that's a low blow, _you're highness_. Besides, don't you have to go boss some servants around or something?"

"Don't you have a boy band to sing with?"

"You're a low blow kinda guy. But that's my boyfriend, and I'm done here. Bye," I said as I carried the jeans I had picked out with me over to the counter to have the lady at the register check me out.

I left the boutique, called The Wardrobe, with one pair of jeans…and a laughing Collin following in my trail.

"Oh, come on, Khyri, I wasn't being mean. Nile's a nice guy."

"He is. He's the sweetest guy on Earth," I said, turning around on him so fast that he almost ran into me.

"I'm a sweet guy, too. But you haven't given me the chance to prove that to you yet."

I laughed. "You're right, I don't know you. Maybe we can dance together at the next ball and you can prove it to me then." I smiled because I had reached Mallory's car, which she had let me borrow. "Besides, I don't battle with guys who take low blows. Work on your skills, 'kay?" I said I got behind the wheel of the car.

He smirked before saying, "I can't wait to dance with you again. Next time, I hope it's the tango," then he walked away with swag in his stride.

I was just sitting there with my keys hovering about the ignition with my mouth agape. A passing middle aged woman tapped me on the shoulder before asking, "You alright, love?"

I was shaken out of my trance with a gasp before turning to the lady and saying, "Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

She nodded before walking away with a smile. I drove back to the Manor with my brows furrowed, I knew I was seething. Mal and Rey could see it as soon as I walked through the doors.

"Who pissed in your cereal today?" Rey asked.

"Collin," I said, tight lipped, before I sunk down next to them on the couch in the main room.

"Who's Collin?" Mal asked.

"This guy I danced with at the ball. I thought he was nice, but we started crossing wits, and I was like 'hey, this is fun,' then he went below the belt a few times. The last thing he said to me was that he hopes that we can dance together again, next time, the tango. The tango!" I said everything really fast because I was so pissed.

"She said what?" Mallory asked Reyghan.

Reyghan repeated what I had said back to Mallory so that she could understand it this time.

"What's the deal with the tango?" Rey asked.

"It's, like, the sexiest ballroom dance there is. What the hell is that?!"

"So do you think this Collin guy likes you?"

"No! He just wants to bother and fluster me, which he did. I'm gonna be ready next time!" I said as I stood up quickly and stormed off to my suite.

I lay down on my bed and watched the TV from there. I was presently surprised to have Nile call me, mostly because he called me late into the night over here.

"Hi, love!" I said when I answered. "How're you?"

"Hi, I'm good. How's your day been?" he asked, obviously happy.

I let his good mood buoy me, "I didn't have the best day, but I feel better now that you called."

"What happened?" he asked.

"Collin. That guy from the ball. He's such a jerk!"

"What'd he do?"

I told him the conversation I had with Collin and how flustered I got from it.

"You probably won't even see him again," Nile said hopefully.

"If I don't, it'll be too soon. But how's America so far?"

"So many screamin' girls," he laughed. "But we're having fun over here. Zane's thinkin' about dying his hair blonde!"

"All of it?!" I gasped before I chuckled.

"He hasn't decided yet," Nile laughed harder.

"Is that Khyri?" I heard a voice in the background, I was pretty sure it was Leif.

"Yeah, it's her," Nile said.

"Lemme speak to her," Leif said.

He must've taken the phone from Nile because I heard rustling and air passing through the speaker.

"Hello, Khyri," Leif said cheerily.

"Hi, Leif," I said, excited to talk to him.

"How've you been?"

"Bored out of my mind, you?"

"We're having fun, interviewing, stuff like that. You being good to Nile?" he asked.

"Of course," I chuckled.

"You have to take care of him," Zane called through the phone. "Don't break his heart, 'Khy Khy'."

"I promise I won't, Zane," I laughed. "Make him agree, too."

"Oi', he'd better treat you right," Leif said. "You seem like a nice girl."

"I try," I smiled.

"Nile keeps whining that he misses you. It's maddening."

"That's so sweet! I miss him, too!"

"Do you keep telling your whole family that like he keeps telling us?"

"I keep telling Reyghan and Mallory that," I admitted.

"Well, it's nice to know that you two are spreading the joy around to everyone," he laughed. "Alright, Nile!" Leif shouted. "Bye, Khyri."

"Bye, Leif."

"We've got an interview to do in a couple of minutes," Nile said to me.

"Well, thank you for calling me, and thanks for letting me blow off steam about Collin."

"Thanks for entertaining the boys," he chuckled.

"No prob. So, I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah, we can Skype later."

"Okay, love you, do well in the interview," I said.

"Love you, too, and thanks," he said, before we hung up.

I love the way he says "thanks"; he says it like "tanks".

"We're going to a pub tonight. You need to get out of this manor," Mallory said after dinner.

"I went out today already," I huffed as I flopped down on her bed.

"Yes, I know you went shopping, without Rey and me- I might add."

"I didn't intend to shop much, just look around."

"Well, Rey and I always hang out together; I need some quality time with my other little sister," Mal said honestly.

"I miss you, too, Mal!" I laughed. "Alright, I'll come out with you. Where did you have in mind?"

"I haven't been there before, but I was thinking…The Temple Bar?"

"Okay, well, I've gotta go change," I said as I hopped off of her bed and left the room.

I made sure to do my bath routine before I straightened and blew out my hair. I did my make-up in soft browns; I even chose a subtle pink lip gloss for my naturally pink lips. I decided that I'd save the jeans that I bought that day for when Nile came back home, but wore another pair of dark blue skinnies with a brown heeled boot- which wasn't easy to pull over Nile's watch. I chose a shimmery crème top and changed my nose ring to a diamond stud and my look was complete.

I was walking out of my room, purse in hand, just as Mallory strolled out of hers. She was dressed almost similarly to me, except that she had on a dark blue shorts and her top was white and flowed.

"You look amazing," we said to each other.

"Great minds think alike," she said as she pointed to the similarities in our ensembles.

"Right?!" I smiled. "Hey, we aren't going to the same pub as mom and Bill, right?" I asked, just thinking about the fact that they were going out that night, too.

"No, I think dad said that they were headed to Weir's tonight."

I sighed in relief. As much as I loved them, I didn't want to spend my night with them in a bar. This was supposed to be time with me and Mal, and I was determined to spend some time with my big sister.

We got into her car and she drove us over to The Temple Bar, parked, and we walked inside.

I ordered a margarita at the bar while Mallory ordered herself a beer.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my tango partner."

I sighed in frustration at Collin. "Are you following me?!" I asked in a clipped manner.

"Nope, it's just coincidence. But it's good coincidence, don't you think, love?" he asked, a hand on my forearm.

I quickly shook his hand off of my arm, "It's not good. Look, I'm here to have a night with my sister, Collin. So, if you wouldn't mind, can you get lost?"

"That's a tid rude," he scoffed. "What happened to the manners you had at the ball."

"Oh, those are for special occasions, and you aren't one of them," I said before downing my alcohol.

Mallory sat there with a huge smirk on her face directed at Collin whilst she sipped her beer.

"If you'll excuse us," I said as Mal and I both turned back around to face the right way at the bar.

I ordered a shot of vodka because I had a feeling it would be a long night.

I took it to the head, which was right, because Collin had decided to sit next to me.

"I'll have what she had," he told the bartender.

I ordered another shot as I rolled my eyes at him.

"Calm down," Collin laughed. "Then again, I'd love to see you drunk."

"You are so thirsty, it ain't even funny."

"What do you mean?" he asked after he drank his shot of vodka.

I laughed, "You don't know what 'thirsty' means?"

"Apparently not the way you're using it…" his brows furrowed.

I laughed again. "It means you're set on getting laid."

"I am not!"

"You really are," I chuckled.

"You want more?" Mallory asked, already having polished off two beers.

"I'll take a beer," I responded.

"You think I'm trying to get into your pants?" Collin demanded my attention.

"I think you are."

"I would want to eventually, but I actually just want to get to know you, Khyri," he said, trying to be vulnerable.

I laughed, "I'm taken, and I'm not falling for your line."

He chuckled, "It wasn't a line. But we could be friends, you know."

"We couldn't because you want more than that. We could've been, though," I said after I took a sip of the beer that had arrived for me.

"So, if I didn't like you, we could have been friends?"

"No, if you weren't such a dick, we could've been friends," I corrected.

I heard Mallory choke back a laugh with her drink in her mouth.

"You don't have any jerk-off friends back home?"

"I do. But they haven't tried to hit on me."

"None of them ever hit on you…?" he raised a skeptical eyebrow.

I sighed, "They have, but not so blatantly when they knew I was taken. Not the way you've been."

"Want to start over?"

"We'll see," I said as I turned my attention back to Mallory.

I thought, _It's not likely._


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

"Let's go, Khyri!" Reyghan called.

"I'm coming," I yelled back.

I grabbed my purse, checked myself in the mirror, and then walked out of my suite. "Let's go," I said to Mal and Rey who were waiting for me in the hallway.

We laughed together as I took the lead out to the car; mom was already waiting out there for us.

We were going to Profile Hair Design that day, five days after Mallory and I had gone to The Temple Bar. I really needed a haircut, but I also wanted to get highlights.

I sat in the chair after my hair was washed and the hairdresser asked me what I wanted done to it.

"I just want half an inch to an inch off and I want to have my hair dyed back to brown and I want highlights."

"You don't like it jet black?" she asked as she selected her scissors to begin cutting at my hair.

"I like it black, but I miss my brownish color."

"You have a very nice grade of hair."

"I know, I love it," I agreed with her. "I love how manageable it is, except when it gets to wavy."

"It's naturally wavy? Wait, I see it," she said, as she looked at my roots.

I chuckled. "I'm just saying that I will never go natural, I need to have product and straighten my hair."

I didn't even process what all she did to my hair after that point, I was too lost in that weird/amazing feeling I always get whenever someone plays with or does my hair. I was barely conscious when it was all over and I was sitting under the dryer. After everything was done, I was staring and running my hands through my hair that was now a dark brunette and had really pretty highlights. I loved it. The sun shining outside hit it in just the right angle and my hair was radiant.

"Thank you so much, it's perfect!" I finally gasped as the lady was just smiling down at me while I admired my hair.

"You're welcome, dearie," she said as she took the smock off of me.

I hugged her before I went to mom, Rey, and Mal. Mom's hair was just getting its final curl, Rey's hair was finished and she was sitting in a waiting chair, and Mal was just finishing under the dryer when I was done.

"Your hair looks beautiful, honey," mom said as she ran her hands through my silky tresses.

"Yours looks great, mom," I said. Her hair was flipped at the ends and she had gotten auburn in her hair.

Rey had gotten her hair cut and straighten…and she had bangs. Like curled under, forehead bangs. I was really surprised because I hadn't seen her with bangs like that since we were kids. But I liked it on her, a lot.

"That style is fantastic on you," I gushed.

"I know, right! I felt like I needed a change, and what better place to do it than in Mullingar?!"

"It looks spectacular!" Mallory called from her chair, right before she stood up.

Mal had gone in a totally different direction completely. She had gotten a permanent in her hair, but it actually looked really good on her (which I wasn't sure it was going to when she had told me she was thinking about getting it done).

"Mal, your perm turned out nicely. You look terrific," I said, I think that I used a fair amount of adjectives that day.

"Thank you! I was hoping that it'd turn out right, I was scared for a second."

"I love it on you. You can pull it off."

"I can't wait for it to fall a bit," she admitted.

"It'll look even better then, but like it as it is right now."

"I love your hair though. Those highlights were just what you needed. You look revived."

"Why, thank you," I giggled.

We paid and left the salon with "thank you's" to the women who did our hair. My hair bounced with my steps, I felt light and airy.

When we got back to the Manor, we saw a new car in the drive when we pulled up. A man we didn't know was sitting in the driver's seat, of the car in a suit and hat. He waved to us and we waved back as we passed.

When we got inside I could hear GAP chatting delightedly- like she does with Nile.

I was hopeful when we stepped in the main room, and then it was crushed.

"Oh! Khyri," GAP smiled, "you have a visitor. You didn't tell me that you knew Viscount Collin Berwyn III."

"I didn't know he was a lord," I said, pissed that Collin had wiggled his way into my life again.

"We've been talking about things in England. Your mother and father, how has their stay been in Mullingar?" she asked, enthused.

"We always enjoy staying here, Lady Persephone," he smiled.

"Tell them that I would love to see them. It appears Khyri is the only one to have company. Not that I mind, I favor Nile. Have you met the lad?"

"He and I briefly met at the ball. He seems to be very nice."

"Yes, he is a brilliant suitor for my Khyri. He cherishes her more than I've seen young lads do in some time."

"Yes, I was able to observe that from merely seeing them together at the ball. The cherishing is mutual between them."

"You have come to call on Khyri?" She asked. I knew GAP wasn't dim or mad, she was cunning and manipulative.

Collin began fumbling his words, "Oh, I just came by to see how she was doing. I read that Nile has been in America."

"Yes, yes, he's off with his band. Khyri, love, will you be going out with Collin this afternoon or will he be here?"

"I don't want either," I said tersely.

"Khyri," GAP scolded. "That is no way to act toward a viscount."

Begrudgingly I mumbled, "Fine, we'll stay here."

I didn't want him there at all, but if GAP was insisting I be polite to him, I had no other choice.

"Run along upstairs, Khyri," she said with a small humorous smile on her face.

That old lady sure knew how to piss me off.

I turned, mom, Mal, and Rey just standing there with blank faces, either surprised by GAP or mad at her like I.

"C'mon Collin," I said right before I was completely out of the room.

I flew up the steps and was in my room, I hadn't even checked to see where Collin was behind me. I heard him shuffle in a few seconds later.

"Didn't care to slow down?" he laughed breathily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, _Viscount _Collin," I said sarcastically.

"You care that I'm a Viscount?"

"Not really," I scoffed. "I won't treat you any differently than before."

"Good, because I'd be worried if you did," he chuckled.

"Hmm," I said as I picked up my Kindle from the nightstand and went to go sit down on the sofa. I made sure to put my feet up so that he wouldn't have an excuse to sit down near me.

"What're you reading?" he asked.

"Peter Pan," I said as I ran my finger across the screen to flip the page.

"Isn't that a bit childish?" he smirked.

"No!" I said defensively. "This book is a classic!"

"How old are you? Six?" he chuckled.

"Eighteen thank you."

"You're that young?"

"Yeah. You?"

"I'm twenty-four," he grinned.

I laughed, "What're you smiling about? You act like twenty-four's an accomplishment."

He chuckled with me, "I guess age really doesn't matter."

"That's exactly why I can still enjoy reading Peter Pan," I smirked.

"You got me there," he laughed.

"I know," I said as I returned my focus back to my book.

"I like your hair," he smiled.

"I like it, too."

"Why didn't you keep it black?"

"My natural color isn't black."

"You got it cut, as well?"

"I did," I nodded.

"It looks beautiful."

"Thank you."

"You really don't like me at all, eh?" he asked.

"Honestly, you aren't that bad a guy. But there's just something about you…I don't like it much."

"Do you know what it is you don't like?"

"Probably your steady cockiness," I laughed. "I keep wanting to punch you in the throat because you piss me off so badly."

"I've never heard of anyone getting punched in the throat before…is that an American thing?"

I chuckled, "No, it's a Khyri thing."

"Why the throat?" he asked through laughing.

"Definitely because it hurts so much," I laughed.

"That seems like a sure way to make sure someone knows you mean business."

I laughed, "That's why I chose it. Plus, since I'm so short, it's the perfect place to punch someone, instead of the typical places."

"See? Why can't we be like that? We had a wonderful moment right then."

I slowly stopped laughing as I realized who I was dealing with. "I don't trust you much."

"Let me build your trust in me. I wouldn't hurt you, Khyri."

Somehow, I knew I'd regret my decision, but I told him, "Fine. We'll see how this goes."

"Finally," he hissed.

"But if you hit on me again. I'mma kick you down to size."

"In my ankle," he raised an eyebrow.

"Think…testicular area," I smirked.

"You're a violent little thing."

"Hell yeah, I am," I said before chuckling.

"So we're actually friends now? I just want to clarify," he asked his hands slicing through the air for emphasis.

I rolled my eyes as I chuckled out, "We're acquaintances."

"I'll take it!" he laughed.

He grabbed the remote off of the coffee table in front of the sofa before he flipped through the channels.

It felt wrong sitting with him on the sofa, the place I had lay with Nile two weeks prior.

I got up and walked over to my bed and logged on to my laptop. I got on Twitter and checked for what was going on in my friends lives before I got on Facebook and checked on everyone else's lives. I had just gotten on YouTube to see how many views I had gotten on the videos of me singing before I heard the chat sound go off to let me know that someone was waiting to talk to me. I answered to Sienna's video chat.

"Hey, girl!" she said before laughing.

"Hey!" I said before joining in her laughter.

"We miss ya' over here."

"What've y'all been up to?"

"The Cove and OC. I got a job in OC cleaning on the weekends. We've been sleepin' over at Elaina's house, I keep bein' tempted to call ya' and tell you to come over there wit' us, then I remember ya aren't here."

"You make it seem like I'm gone forever or something," I laughed.

"You are!"

"It's already July, I'll be back in no time. Damn! It's already July," I laughed as I realized.

"Girl, we're halfway through July."

"Are you serious? So, my days and my dates have been all fucked up?! I thought it was the beginning of July!"

"It's July eighteenth," she laughed.

"I've been here over a month?!" I gasped.

"You been gone a month, yeah."

"Damn!" was all I could manage.

I saw Collin laughing over on the sofa with his head down, I knew he was laughing at my conversation with Sienna.

"You got your weave done!" I said as I noticed her hair was silky smooth and jet black.

"I had to take that shit out; it was getting' on my nerves. And you got your hair done." she noticed as well.

"Yeah. It was jet black before today."

"Ya shoulda let me see it! You wouldn't even let me put black hair in it when I was braidin' it, but you let someone dye it black?!"

"This guy did it before I could stop him. It was for a ball, like the kind from Cinderella, and the hairstylist had my hair black before I could do anything about it. But it did look really good with the dress I had."

"I'm surprised at you! Ireland is making ya' all brand new," she laughed. "Oh, hey. What is this new boyfriend of yours, and why are ya' all over the internet?!"

"I'm on the internet?!"

"Yeah! With one of those This Way boys. The little blonde one."

I heard Collin choke on a laugh and saw him shaking his head when I looked up.

"He's my boyfriend," I told her.

"I know that now! But the world literally knew before I did. Ya' usually text me this shit from the get. Like you did with Frankie and Geoff."

"I'm sorry, I should've."

"It's fine now. But how the hell did ya' snag one of those guys?"

"He lives here, in Mullingar."

"Damn, now I know I really shoulda insisted that ya' take me."

"You know that if mom, Rey, and I had our way, you, Ness, and Carsen would be here with us."

"Yeah, we're y'all's crew."

I laughed, "Y'all are family."

A light flashed on my screen and I had another call waiting for me.

"Hey, Nile's wants to talk to me. Can I talk to you later?" I asked.

"Talk to your man. But text me later, okay?"

"I will" I said.

I ended my chat with her and answered Nile's.

"Hi!" I waved to him.

"Hi! What're you doin'?" he smiled.

"I was just talking to my friend, Sienna."

"You're hair!" he grinned.

"Do you like it?" I asked, lifting a hand to tuck some of it out of my face.

"You look lovely. Did you go today?"

"Yeah, this is fresh from the salon."

"I have a surprise for you when I get home."

"Okay!" I said excitedly.

"Um…Khyri," he said, his face suddenly turned down.

"What is it?"

"There're pictures of you and I together in London all over the internet."

"That's what Sienna just told me."

"Are you alright?"

"It doesn't bother me," I assured him.

"Don't let it get to you."

"I won't. Oh, hey, I made an acquaintance today."

"Who is it?"

"Collin. He came over today, and was talking to GAP and that conniving old lady sent us to talk to each other. I guess, right now we're acquaintances. Though, it's still out for negotiation," I raised my voice so that Collin would get the point.

"You already agreed," he called back.

Nile laughed good-naturedly, "I'm guessing he's over there now?"

"Yeah, we've been up here almost two hours."

"Hey, Nile," Collin called from the sofa.

"Hi, Collin," Nile said.

"How's your day been today?" I asked Nile.

"It's been fine. It's hot over here."

"Then I'm glad I not at home, then. I hate hot weather. It feels really nice over here today."

"Well, it's swimming weather over here today."

"So, do you have a show or an interview today?"

"We had a radio show this morning. I think we have a talk show tonight."

"I love how you don't even know your own schedule," I laughed.

"I just go with it," he laughed as well.

"Do you know when you'll be back, yet?"

"They're saying next Wednesday or Friday…"

I pouted a little, "That much longer? A whole 'nother week?"

"It'll fly by, Khy Khy," Nile said in a way that let me know that he wanted to be back here but, he wanted to be strong for me.

"I know it will; I just miss you."

"I miss you, too. But we'll see each other soon."

"Promise?" I smiled.

"We'll see each other soon," he said with conviction. "I love you," he smiled.

"I love you, too," I grinned.

I blew him my signature two kisses before I signed off the chat with him.

"Ooh, I love you, Nile," Collin imitated before throwing in some smooches for good measure.

"Shut the hell up," I chuckled before he and I burst out laughing.


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry that I took the story down before. But I've edited it and revised, and fixed some of the stuff that was bothering me before with the story.**

**I have changed the names of the boys and the band, for my protection, but I think that you'll find what I changed the song titles to is funny, hopefully; my sister and I came up with them together. **

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

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**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

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"Khyri!" mom called. "Flowers!"

"What?" I asked.

"Nile bought you more flowers!"

"What?"

Collin laughed, "Your mum said that Nile bought you more flowers."

"He did?! I asked as hopped off of my bed and ran downstairs.

I heard Collin laughing behind me.

I saw mom holding a vase with white roses. I opened my mouth wide at their long-stemmed beauty. White roses, even though he'd alternated between sending me white and lavender when he was away (I'd gotten four vases since he'd been away that time, that vase of white roses was the fifth), never ceased to take my breath away.

"Thirteen again," mom smiled.

"Perfection," I grinned as I held the roses up to my nose.

"Oi'! Nile sent you those?" Collin asked, slowly making his way down the steps.

"Yeah. They're beautiful, as always," I beamed.

"Take them up to your room with the others," mom said before she turned to go about her business.

Collin followed me back up the stairs.

"Nile's been buying you flowers."

"Roses. Lavender and white ones, always thirteen of them because that is my favorite and lucky number," I smiled as I sat the vase down next to the other ones that were on display.

"He is really trying to keep getting his pussy, eh?" Collin chuckled.

I growled, "I'm getting really tired of stating the fact to everyone that Nile and I _aren't _having sex, that we _haven't_ had sex, and that we _won't_ until marriage."

"You haven't let him get any yet?" Collin laughed.

"We both want to wait."

Collin laughed harder but let the subject drop.

We suddenly heard moaning coming from next door. It sounded like Mallory…and a guy! It must've been Dylan, because he was the only one she'd been seeing. I heard…her headboard banging against the wall slightly and I cracked up laughing.

"Nile and I aren't, but Mal and Dylan sure are," I said.

Collin laughed hard with me. "Way to go, Dylan."

We laughed and tried to drown out their noise until they finally cut off.

"What was that you said about thirteen?" Collin asked, semi-serious.

"It's my favorite and lucky number."

"Thirteen is like everyone's unlucky number," he smirked. Then his face lit up, like he had an afterthought, "You even like Friday the thirteenth?"

"That's like one of the luckiest days for me."

He laughed like I had answered his question for him, "You know, we met up again on Friday the thirteenth…"

"Young Collin, will you be joining us for dinner this evening," GAP asked.

"No, he will not," I answered.

I'd been pissed at Collin for the last thirty minutes after what he'd said. Like it was luck that I'd run into him that day? No. That was a curse. The first bad thing to happen to me on a Friday the thirteenth.

"I believe I asked _Collin,_ Khyri," GAP enforced.

"I guess that I won't be, Lady Persephone. No reason to make Khyri more hostile than she already is," he chuckled.

"The hell I- I mean, I'm not hostile," I said through my teeth.

"See? I should quit while I'm ahead," he laughed.

"Pity," GAP said. "Know that you are welcome anytime, no matter what my great niece is feeling."

I gasped, but GAP gave me a warning glare and I shut my mouth quickly.

"Thank you for your invitation, Lady Persephone. I will remember to pass the invitation to my parents to visit you soon."

"Please do. It would be lovely having them here."

I showed Collin out and shut the door behind him.

After dinner, I followed Mallory up to her bedroom. I guess she had snuck Dylan out before anyone noticed that he was there, because I didn't see him leave, and he wasn't at dinner.

"Mal," I beamed as I shut her suite door behind me.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Don't 'what' me. I heard you and Dylan in here," I laughed.

"You heard us?!" she hissed like one of the elders could hear us.

"Hell yeah I heard you. Both Collin and I did. It was hilarious. I take it that Dylan really knows what he's doin' in the sack?" I chuckled.

She beamed and sighed like she was relieved to have someone to tell this to. "Oh, my God, yes. He is incredible. He does this one move…" she looked off like she was thinking about the move.

I cracked up. "When did you two start having sex, anyway?"

"…About a week ago," she nodded.

"And I'm just finding out now? I would've come to you!"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know how to say it. Besides, I've been too busy sneaking him in and being with him at his place. I didn't even think of telling anyone," she shrugged.

"When Nile and I have sex, I'mma wait a week before telling you," I threatened with a smile.

"C'mon, little sis," her British accent streaked through, as she pulled me under her arms in a hug. Her accent fluctuated between mostly British, a little bit American, and somewhat Irish depending on her mood, her surroundings, and situations. "I didn't mean to keep it from you."

I smiled bigger, "Warn me next time he's over, though. I do _not_ want to hear the headboard banging, or yours and his moaning, though I'm glad you two enjoy each other so much."

"You know, you and Rey are the best sisters ever. You're what I always wanted in sisters," she grinned but showed she was being totally honest.

"I always wanted a big sister, and I'm glad you're mine. I love you so much, Mal," I said as I hugged her tightly.

"**_Nile Borran and Delia Leviathan are Dating?_**" I read while I was online, eight days later.

Nile was supposed to come back the next day, Friday, and I had just logged in on Twitter when I had seen that trending.

I kept a level head, but slowly looked through the Tweets on the subject. I looked at the most popular Tweet that led to an article about it, then five other articles. Both Nile and Delia had said that they had celebrity crushes on each other, but that Delia didn't want a relationship- yet.

A fucking relationship! Hot tears sprung in my eyes and I screamed in anger, but I wasn't going to cry over that, no. I was stronger than that.

"Hey!" I heard Collin walk in my room.

Why Collin, why now?!

He pulled a flower from behind his back and grinned at me.

"I ordered it a few days ago, it's an-"

"-Orchid," I said as I got off of my bed and slowly made my way toward him.

"Yeah, an orchid." He said.

I stared at the beautiful lavender petals. The flower was elegant and graceful in its pot. There were a few buds scattered among the blossomed ones and it brought a smile to my face.

"Thank you," I smiled faintly.

His face turned to concern as he studied me before asking, "Why do you have tears in your eyes."

"It's nothing," I turned away from him and sat the potted orchid down, next to the roses that were still surviving. My room smelled of roses and my vanilla scented things.

"Khy Khy, what happened?" he grabbed my wrist to hold me still when I had started to walk away from him when he had followed me over to the table with all the flowers.

"Get out, Collin," I said with quiet rage.

"What?" he was shocked.

"Get out!" I yelled.

"I'm not leaving you," he said as he pulled my arm and I stumbled into him and he held onto me tightly.

That was it. That's what it took for me to break. I through a fit! I started screaming and crying and stomping around and throwing random shit across the room. Collin sat down on the bed and let me go through my phase. It was really embarrassing, to be honest, and by the end of it, I ended up, face down on the floor, worn out from my excursion, a puddle of tears on the hardwood.

"Can you tell me what happened, now?" Collin asked, sitting next to me on the floor, gently rubbing my back.

"Rumors about Nile and Delia Leviathan dating. I know they're just rumors, but, it got to me. What if I'm not cut out to date a celebrity?"

"Do you love him?" Collin asked me tenderly.

"I do." I said.

"Then that's all that matters. If you love him, and he loves you, then you two can get through anything together."

I sat up slowly. "You really think so…?"

"Don't let some harsh articles change what you think about love. I know that you believe that love is stronger than that, you're just down."

"I know it is. But I have to wonder if I'm not just crazy and the concept of love overcoming isn't farfetched. But thank you for the pep talk, I needed it. And the orchid, it was sweet," I smiled.

"Come here," he said as he held open his arms.

I scooted over to him and leaned into his embrace. He continued to rub my back as he hugged me tightly.

"Things will work out for you," he placed a soft kiss on top of my head. "The world would be shit if good things didn't happen to good people, and you're one of the purest and best people I know."

"I don't know what it is about Mullingar, but I seem to be crying more here than I ever have in my life."

"Crying is a good thing."

"No, to me, it's like weakness, and I don't like appearing weak."

"Crying isn't weakness, Khyri. It's knowing that you are strong enough to cry about things that you can't control, and by the end of it, finding what you can and fixing them."

"I've heard that differently," I laughed, "but I understand what you mean."

"Yeah, I was pretty sure that I fucked it up, but I sounded nice in my head," he laughed.

I laughed even harder than I was and rested my head on his shoulder. "You're a good friend," I smiled.

"Ooh! I'm a friend, now?!" he grinned.

"Shut. Up. Collin!" I laughed, actually, basically cackled. I was feeling giddy.

By the way, just to confirm you suspicions: yes, I was PMSing.

"Someone's feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah, I feel much better," I grinned up at him.

I heard my bedroom door open, and my whole family had piled up in the doorway of my suite. But all I saw was Nile staring at me with a stricken face.


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before, and still. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it and continue to read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

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**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

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"We heard screaming and stomping," GAP said. "We had no idea what was going on up here."

"What if I was getting murdered? It would've taken y'all that long to get to me?! Nice to know I'll be saved quickly," I said as I stood up and wiped the tears that were just sitting on my cheeks.

"Don't you take that tone with me, dearie," GAP warned.

"Know what, _GAP_, I'm gonna walk away before I say something you'll find ridiculously punishable so that you can bully my mom into not saying anything when you decide that you have the authority to ground me, while you try to fuck around and ruin my love life for your own sick amusement, excuse me." I said as I pushed past everyone and walked down the corridor and down the staircase.

"You are punished!" she called after me.

"Right now, I don't give two shits if you punish me, I'll accept it later," I told her, and then I walked out the door.

I knew it looked like I had thrown a tantrum/bitch fit, but it was much more than that. Persephone needed to be told off. She was an old bitch and most of all, a voyeur. Someone needed to have the balls to tell her off, and I picked up my lady balls and did the job. If she's pissed at me, it's because I said the truth.

"Khyri!" I heard someone running after me. I had walked a long way from the manor.

I turned to see Nile, just before he had caught up with me. I hugged him tightly and kissed him.

"What are you doing back? You weren't supposed to be here 'til tomorrow!" I grinned.

I had been so overwhelmed back at the manor; I hadn't even had the chance to feel joyous that Nile was back.

"I told you tomorrow so that I could surprise you today," he smiled.

"I'm glad. Was that the present you had for me? You?! It's perfect," I grinned before kissing him again.

He pulled back reluctantly, "I'm not the gift. Can I ask, what was that on the floor with Collin?"

"Oh, if you can't tell, I'm PMSing. He helped me calm down after a 'crisis'," I chuckled.

"That's all?" he raised an eyebrow.

"That's all, I promise."

"What was your 'crisis'?" Nile asked.

"Um…The rumors about you and Delia…"

"That made you upset? They're just publicity stunts. I promise you."

"Collin helped me realize it."

"Collin? The guy that wants to fuck you, gave you advice about you and I?"

"It was really helpful and thoughtful," I cracked a smile.

"I'm glad you're better now," he said before kissing the button of my nose.

"On the downside, I pissed off Persephone and called her 'GAP' to her face. I doubt that she knows what it means, but she'll be mad that I called her out of 'Great Aunt Persephone'. I refuse to call her that, now. I'm calling her Persephone from now on."

"She's probably more pissed that you called her a bully and said that she's fuckin' up your love life," he chuckled.

"She is, Nile! She was the one who encouraged Collin to stay in the first place. You should've seen her face when she could tell that he liked me and I was uncomfortable with him at first. It was twisted pleasure!"

"I can't believe she'd do that," Nile said in shock, but not too shocked to believe it was true.

"See why I'm pissed at her?! I'm done letting other people decide things for me. I'm taking charge of myself."

"You seem pretty independent to me…" Nile pointed out.

"But I'm dying under rules."

"Well…"

"What is it?"

"You could look like your followin' the rules…"

"…and do what I want behind their backs…?" I guessed.

"Exactly," he smiled.

"That's a side I haven't seen to you," I laughed. "I like it," I said before kissing him passionately on the lips for the first time in two and a half weeks.

"Hurry up! The Opening Ceremony is starting!" I called to Rey.

All of us had gathered in Mallory's room for the event the night after. Rey, Nile, and I on the floor; Mal, Dylan, and Collin were on the sofa behind us.

I guess after I had spoken my peace to Persephone the night before, mom and Bill had discussed with her that she really didn't have the right to punish their children. Therefore, I WASN'T GROUNDED! Well, I wasn't grounded until we got back to the States, but I was perfectly okay with that. Persephone shot me dirty looks on the sly that she didn't think that I could see, and that was all of the reward that I needed. It was the crust to best cheesecake in the world.

Nile and I were snuggled up together with a bowl of popcorn between our laps under a blanket that we had wrapped around both of our shoulders when the ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games began. I was always like a kid on Christmas for the Olympic Games, especially the Opening and Closing ceremonies.

We sat there as we watched choirs of kids singing all over the UK as a picturesque rural England is shown to the entire world. When the Industrial Age began, I was in awe of the sheer power and size and scale of the spectacle. I loved the sights and the harsh music; it was all beautiful in its crudeness. Then they lit the five rings and I grinned from ear to ear.

During the early scenes of the Industrial Age, Mal, Nile, Dylan, and Collin would point things out or make reference to things that they grew up knowing about to tell Rey and I. We actually found it quite helpful, because I was certainly a little lost in some of the chaos on the screen.

Mom and Bill, Persephone, and Collin's parents and little sister were downstairs watching the ceremony as well. Mom thought it best if we had all split up into groups to watch it, and I think that was a smart idea. The ceremony was supposed to be about unity, and if we were all together, unfortunately, it would've probably ended up in a fight.

Then, the Queen did this bit. It was legendary- hands down.

"That's the Queen?! I've never seen her before! She's so cute!" I gasped.

"THAT WAS AMAZING!" all of us gasped and laughed as the Queen "jumped" out of a helicopter with James Bond.

When the act of the ceremony with the Peter Pan references began, I started beaming. Nile looked at me and squeezed me. Rey nudged me with her elbow and Mal tapped me on my lower back with her foot.

During that whole act, I was extremely happy, because they had mentioned and shown some of my favorite British novels. They were some of the best books that I had read in my life, and somehow, I had felt a sense of pride that they had been shown to the world. I really don't understand why, it's not like I were the authors of those novels or anything. Maybe…maybe it was because those were novels that I had held so dear to my heart, and the fact that they had displayed such amazing literature to the world just made me, as a reader of those books and as a fan of them, proud. Just as a speculation.

"I love Mr. Bean!" Rey, Mal, and I called out next.

"Rowan is so funny," I laughed at his bit.

When the Digital Age started, all of us were bopping around and singing with the music through the ages. Mal was off key, but it was hilarious; Dylan was off key as well, but it was pitiful. Their off key singing together was sort of cute though, in a pitiful way, but it made all of us laugh. Collin's singing wasn't bad, but he sang quietly while the rest of us belted it out and had fun. I had no clue what the Pretty Bubbles song was, but, I thought it was cute when Frankie and June found each other.

Then when all of the nations started walking through, I had a keen interest. I always loved that part and the unity. I loved what they ended up doing with the "doves" it was really cool. Then when they passed the torch to the future Olympians, and then they lit the cauldron, I was almost right under the TV on the entertainment stand. That part always was my favorite. But the way they designed the cauldron that year…there's really nothing else that you can describe it as other than spectacular.

"Those fireworks are beautiful," Mal, Rey and I oohed.

The guys only laughed at us, but they were just as mesmerized.

When Paul McCartney started singing _Hey Jude,_ every single one of us started singing that song loudly and out of range and off key, but we had so much fun with it. We actually started dancing, swaying, and "performing" all around the suite. We were jumping up and down off of the furniture and acting like fools, but we were unified in our foolery.

Then the Opening Ceremony was over.

We were lost on what to do for like two minutes, and then Mallory had the great idea to plug in her mp3 to its dock and we all began dancing together. It was just a big party, all of us taking turns dancing with each other to the mix of music on Mal's playlist.

When it got late, and Dylan said that he had to get home so that he could get enough rest for work in the morning, he shared a soft kiss with Mallory before saying goodbye to the rest of us and leaving. Collin's parents said that they were leaving, and since that had all shared a limo, he decided to go with them, giving me a hug, Nile a handshake, and saying goodbye to everyone else.

I hugged and told Rey and Mal that I loved them before calling to mom and Bill that I loved them and then I pulled Nile with me to my suite.

I shut the door behind me and he pressed me against the door to kiss me.

"I love you," he hissed after pulling away from me.

"I love you, too," I grinned.

He slid his hands in the back pockets of my jeans and pulled my pelvis tighter to his. I kissed him passionately and I felt my stomach flip with butterflies.

"I want to invite you somewhere with me on the twelfth," Nile smiled.

"Where are we going?"

"It's not confirmed yet, but it's a surprise."

"Oh, what was the present you have for me?" I asked.

He pulled out a little blue box from his pocket and opened it. A little amethyst solitaire on a white gold ring sat inside. I gasped as he pulled it out of the box.

"It's not an engagement ring, or anything- yet. But it's like a…"

"A promise ring?" I asked.

"A promise ring," he nodded.

He took my left hand and slid the ring onto my pointer finger. It fit pretty well, though it was a tad big, it would stay on my finger.

"Thank you, Nile." I grinned.

"I do…think that there is a future between you and me," he confessed.

"I do, too. I don't even question that there is. We're great together."

"You're the love of me life, Khyri," he said as he smoothed the back of his hand down my cheek.

"You're mine," I said with every ounce of conviction in my tiny little body.

He pulled me in for a kiss and we slid down the door to the floor in passionate kisses.


	23. Chapter 23

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before, and still. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it and continue to read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

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**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

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**I am sorry that I haven't posted in like a week. I had writer's block, plus I was reading a new book that I got on Tuesday- this chapter will explain... Thanks for hanging in there though!**

* * *

"Oi'! What's that skating rink on your finger?" Collin asked when he noticed and picked up my hand to analyze the ring that Nile had given me three nights prior.

"Nile gave it to me. It's a promise ring," I grinned.

"Damn!" he gasped.

Nile had left Mullingar that day and would be back two days later. I guess with him leaving so often, I was starting to get used to it, but I did miss him with a terrible ache while he was gone. I wasn't going to let anyone see it, of course, so I just went about the routine that I had developed for his absences. Whenever he was gone I read, Skyped, chatted, texted, called, wrote lyrics, composed songs on my guitar, posted videos on YouTube, strolled around town (excluding my daily jog), watched TV, and hung out with Mal and Rey or Collin.

"Hey. What's it like to be a viscount?" I asked Collin.

He and I were sitting on the sofa in my suite while he read through the pages of _The Iliad_, his reading glasses low on his nose- for the first time since I'd known him, he looked his age or a bit older, usually he looked nineteen or twenty. I sat with my legs stretched out across two of the cushions, with my songbook on my lap and my favorite blue pen in my fingers.

"It's not all that interesting," he smiled wryly. "I have to be polite and respectful and regal whenever I'm out in public. People, especially my family, expect me to be perfect. It's a lot of pressure. I mean, school helped. They sent to academy, so I learned what to do and how to act in high society," he confessed.

"That sounds…lonely," I told him sympathetically.

"I'm used to it by now. I have a great future planned out for me. I went to Cambridge, finished in the top five of my class. I know I'll be in politics for the rest of my life. I have things set."

I studied him; his blue eyes darkened like the deep ocean behind his mask of indifference. "You hate it," I concluded.

"There's no point in fighting it. My parent's, society… I have no choice in the matter. My future's set," he repeated.

I nodded like I understood before fixing my gaze on my notebook like I was thinking of what lyrics to write next.

I didn't understand it at all, though. How can someone's future just be set in stone? Or how can they think that it is? What about free will? Whatever happened to "life's what you make it"?! I'd always been told that I could do what I set my mind to do, and I always had. My mom never forced me on what to do, what future to choose. She let me make my decisions on my own.

Not all parents being like that…it wasn't something that I could wrap my head around.

I glanced back up at Collin, and he was focusing on his book like it held the key to the world. His eyebrows were knitted and his mouth was set in a line amid the scruff growing along his chin. He looked like a politician reviewing a bill- you know, if politicians wore grey beanies over their chestnut hair.

I returned my attention to the lyrics scribbled on the paper in front of me and finished the bridge and the last chorus before getting up. I felt Collin's warm gaze on me as I put away my songbook before grabbing my Kindle and sitting back down.

"What're you reading?" he asked.

"_The Battle of the Labyrinth_ from the _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_ series," I told him. "I'm rereading it."

"What happened to that book you were reading before…? The one with the angels and the world ending…?" he asked humorously.

"I finished it two days ago," I chuckled.

"How'd it end?"

"They ended up together. It made me cry, 'cos they'd been through so much, so many incarnations together that the fact that they found each other for the last time without the curse's help... I couldn't help it; I'm a hopeless romantic," I grinned.

He laughed at me, I knew it was coming.

"Shut up, Collin!" I laughed defensively.

"It's sweet. I just never got why people cried at that stuff," he shook his head, still laughing.

"Because some people are happy when love prevails in hardships," I countered.

"But why cry at it? Shouldn't you be happy for them?"

"I was happy for them. I think I really cried because the series was over and their story was over."

"What was the series?"

"_Fallen_ by Lauren Kate," I said.

"So this other book you're reading…why are you rereading it?"

"Because I wanted to reread the whole thing before the new book comes out in October. I took a break to read _Rapture_, but now I'm trying to get back in the other series."

"So…this book in October…?"

"I've had it preordered for months! I'm so excited about it!"

"Are you normally like this over novels?"

"If it's a story I fell in love with, then yeah. The whole _Percy Jackson_ and _Heroes of Olympus_ series just captured me. It may have started as youth novels, but I really don't care, those books are amazing."

"Aren't they Greek?" he raised an eyebrow.

"The first series is Greek, but this current series is Greek and Roman."

"Think I'd be interested?" he waved his book as testament.

"If you don't mind a story that starts out with a twelve year old, then yeah," I smiled. "The books are really well written and really interesting. It brings in old legends to the modern age."

"Hmm…" he nodded. "I may pick it up, sometime."

"Bailey keeps asking where Aunt Ri is," Carsen laughed.

"I miss my babies so much! How are they?"

"You have babies?" Collin asked.

"No," I chuckled. "Carsen does, they call me their aunt, though."

"Is that Nile?" Carsen asked excitedly.

"No, it's my friend, Collin."

She made her classic Carsen face with her eyes bucked and her mouth turned down; it was like she was freaked out in a comical way. "Who's Collin?"

I turned my laptop around so that she could see Collin and he waved to her with a smile on his face. When I turned the laptop back around to face me, Carsen had a goofy smile on her face.

She leaned in like Collin couldn't hear and hissed, "He's really cute! Is he single?"

I looked up at him and smiled, and then my expression soured, "He's taken."

"Damn it!" she grumbled. "The hot ones are always taken."

"I know, but hey, what happened to the guy you were talking to in that chat room? That guy from Virginia?"

"He didn't come. I'm talking to someone else, though! His name is Cameron."

"Where's this one from?" I asked.

"He's from Baltimore."

"That's closer than the other guy."

"Yeah. But you are so lucky, Collin is really hot!" she hissed again.

"He's not deaf, Carse!" I laughed.

I saw Collin laughing as he stared at the contents of his book.

"Oh, shit! He could hear me?" she gasped.

"Yes, I could hear you!" he called.

"He's British!" Carsen squealed.

"I am." Collin laughed.

"I'm coming!" Carsen called. "Mom-mom's calling me; I gotta go drive her to the doctors. Call me later okay?"

"'Course. Tell the babies I say hello and that I love them okay?"

"Okay. Love you, bye," she said.

"Love you, bye."

I logged off and closed my laptop and caught Collin just looking at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Since when am I taken?" he raised an eyebrow and took of his glasses, like he could study me better without them.

"What?" I asked, completely clueless.

"You told Carsen that I'm taken."

"I didn't say that."

"You did, right before you asked about the guy from Virginia."

I gasped, "I did!"

"You did," he nodded.

"Oh, my gosh! Why'd I do that?!"

"I was hoping you could tell me."

"I don't know why I did it! I'm a bad person!" I concluded.

"You aren't Khy, you just…acted on instinct."

"An instinct for what? What instinct is that?!"

"Territorial instinct," he confirmed.

"I was being territorial?"

He turned so that he had an analytical view on me. "Has Carsen ever taken something from you?"

"Clothes and shoes- normal girl stuff."

"But has she ever taken a guy you've fancied?"

"A couple of times… A few times…"

"Do you think that she gets what she wants?"

"Always. Any guy she has her sights on, she's got within a week. At college, she got like four of the guys I liked; even my ex wanted her for a while."

"That's why you were being territorial. She's taken people close to you away from you, and you want to keep someone to yourself."

"That makes sense," I nodded.

Thankfully he didn't say what I thought that he was going to say: that I may like him in a "more than friends" kind of way. But I could tell that even though he hadn't said it, he was thinking it.

"So, we're friends now?"

"I guess we are?"

"Finally!" Collin huffed like he had accomplished something.

I laughed, "What do you mean, 'finally'?"

"It took you long enough to admit it."

I shook my head but laughed anyway.

He reached across the table to grab the remote and turned on the TV. The Olympics were on so we watched the matches that were on at the time. I sat back after I put everything away so that I could focus the Games.

Collin would alternate between watching the Games and reading his book.

I thought about what I had done. But it scared me to think about it. I absolutely adored Nile, loved him so much, but why would I tell Carsen that Collin was taken if I had no feelings for him other than friendship. I wouldn't have been that territorial for any other guy if Carsen had wanted him; she's my best friend. Why Collin?

"You're overthinking it," I heard.

I thought it was my head telling itself that, but then I noticed Collin looking at me.

"What?"

"You're overthinking what you said. You practically have steam coming out of your ears."

"It's just bothering me."

"Don't worry about it, Khyri," he patted my knee. "It didn't mean anything to you."

"Whatever happened to you hitting on me…and salsa dancing?" I giggled, slightly relieved.

"I decided that it was better to be friends with you than to try to force my way into a spot that will never be mine. You and Nile are meant to be together. The whole world can tell that."

"That's so sweet, Collin. I'm just learning all kinds of sides to you."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, I think I like it. It's interesting."

"Well, I'm happy to amuse you at your discretion, Miss Marrin."

"Why, thank you, Viscount Berwyn," I said with a bow of my head.

I decided not to dwell on what had happened, what I had said. I loved Nile, almost as much as I loved my family and just a step above my best friends- that's saying A LOT. There was no way that a slip of words and a moment of territorial-ness was going to mess that up. Nile was the "love of me life".


	24. Chapter 24

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before, and still. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it and continue to read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

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**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

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"Can you believe we're leaving in two weeks?" Reyghan asked as she drew in her eyeliner.

Mom finally said that Rey could come out with Mal and me so we decided to go to the Night Club in Mullingar. She was so excited she'd dressed in the cutest outfit she brought.

I on a mid-thigh length flowing skirt and sleeveless tree green blouse. I put my hair up in a high pony tail and let my bangs hang down to the left. I wasn't fully in the mood to go to a club but Collin jumped at the idea to come with us to the club so I decided to go. I tried to force down the feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was about to change; it made me feel woozy but I applied lip gloss and straightened my outfit anyway.

"Collin's here," Mallory called to us.

Rey and I walked down the stairs together and saw Collin standing at the bottom of the stairs with Mal and Dylan. Mal had on a short dress and heels that went on for days past her long legs. Both Collin and Dylan were dressed in similar fashion. Collin had on a light green dress shirt while Dylan had on a medium blue dress shirt. They both wore black slacks and nice shiny shoes.

Collin had his focus trained on me and told me that I looked beautiful when I had reached him at the bottom of the stairs. Of course, I thanked him for it.

Collin had made sure to bring his limo for us, though I had told him earlier that it wasn't necessary but he insisted. So, all of us had piled up into the limo and rode together to the club. I had already talked to Nile and he all but came back to Mullingar to push me to go with my sisters and Collin to the club that night.

When we got there, Mal, Collin, Dylan, and I instantly ordered drinks. Next thing I knew, Dylan had whisked Mallory off to the dance floor with him. This guy who was a pretty cute blonde was making eyes at Rey so they were talking at the bar and then in a few, I saw them together on the dance floor, as well.

"Do you wanna dance?" I asked Collin after a while. I was tired of sitting around and I was determined to have some fun.

"You wanna dance? With me?" Collin asked skeptically.

I chuckled, "There's no one else here that I want to dance with."

"Okay, sure," he nodded.

I pounded the shot I had ordered before Collin took my hand and led me onto the floor with him. He and I began to move together to the beat of the music. Before long, I was lost in a haze of drink, music, and Collin.

"What the hell happened last night?" I groaned to Mallory who had brought me a cup of coffee before brunch.

I have to admit that I did have a slight hangover and had forgotten to take an aspirin the night before and eat well before going out.

"Oh, love," Mall chuckled as she smoothed my hair. "I don't think I should tell you what happened, and what I saw on the web today. You and Nile seem to be on the same wavelength."

"Just tell me," I sighed.

"First, I saw a few quotes from a few sites that Nile and Delia said that they would date each other."

I groaned in annoyance, my head spinning and pounding, "The other thing."

"You and Collin kissed," she said like she was scared of what was going to happen to her safety for her telling me that.

"I was afraid you were going to tell me that…" I breathed. "How did it happen?"

"You two were…grinding, and then you turned around and both of you just leaned in at the same time and kissed. It was only for a couple of seconds, but it happened."

I wanted to cry, I really did, but I didn't have the strength to do it. I was frozen, almost like the news was for someone other than me. I had never cheated before in my life! I had sworn that I never would. I wouldn't have consciously ever done it to Nile. It broke my heart. It hurt so bad that it went past hurt into numbness.

"What are you going to do?" Mal asked.

"I don't know."

"Collin cares for you, too, if you hadn't noticed."

"He's a friend, a friend who wanted to hook up before we were friends. That doesn't count as caring."

"Let me ask you, big sister to little sister: did Collin try to bow himself out between you and Nile?"

"Kinda."

"Did he say that 'you and Nile are meant to be together' even when he'd still had residual feelings for you?"

"Yeah…"

"That's caring, Khy. He was putting your happiness above his own. That's love."

"He can't be in love with me…"

"Why can't he?"

"Because I'm with Nile!" I whined.

Mallory gasped, "You feel the same way toward Collin, don't you?"

"No! I love Nile!" I repeated.

"You can love more than one guy at a time. It makes the situation more complicated, but it's possible. Khyri, if you love both guys, you're going to have to admit it to yourself."

"I don't want to admit it to myself!" I shook my head.

Mal tucked the hair behind my ear and left her hand lingering there in a gentle way. "You're going to have to, sometime."

"Can't I just lie here in bed and think?"

"Sure, love, I'll cover for you."

"Thank you, Mal. I love you," I said as I lay back down in the cloud-like bed.

"I love you, too, Khy Khy," she said as she kissed my forehead and pulled my blankets up higher, basically tucking me in.

I fell back to sleep. I woke up a few times during the day, most of the time when mom had come to visit me and bring me food and water that I didn't eat or drink. The time I remember most was at around one when Nile called me…and for the first time, I didn't pick up to his call. Collin texted a few minutes after that, and I didn't reply.

I heard my laptop go off Facebook alerts and I saw Twitter flicker with a message, I even got Skype calls, but I ignored all of them.

I resisted the urge to through everything electronic across the room, and turned over and buried myself under my covers and pillows to drown out the sounds.

"Khyri?" I heard a British voice ask.

"Khy Khy?'' I heard a male Irish voice call.

I had forgotten that Nile was supposed to be back that evening. And I had no clue that either he or Collin would be coming over. I didn't feel like company.

Nile sat next to me on my bed, and I smelled Collin's aftershave close by.

"We brought you soup," Collin said.

"Your mum said that Mallory had told everyone that you were sick today…?" Nile questioned as he ran his fingers through my hair.

I didn't even say anything to either of them. I stared off into the distance that I could see from my window. I didn't trust myself to speak and I really did feel sick.

"You didn't respond to my messages or calls today," Nile said, hidden hurt obvious in his voice.

"Mine either." Collin murmured.

"How're you feeling?" Nile asked.

"Bad. Can I talk to you two tomorrow? Please? I feel terrible," I grumbled as I burrowed back under the covers.

Nile got up from the bed and leaned down to kiss the top of my head which was sticking out of the blankets.

"I love you, too," I said in a soft voice.

"I love you," Nile said. He didn't have to say it in the first place; it was in the way he had kissed me.

"Bye, Khyri, sleep well," Collin said.

"Get better soon," Nile said.

After they walked out of the room, I had two tears roll down my eyes before I forced myself to go back to sleep. I decided that I would find a solution to my problem in the morning.

"You feel any better?" Nile asked the next morning.

"I still feel horrible, but it isn't because I'm sick," I said as I put my head on his shoulder.

He wrapped his arm around my waist, but that only made my stomach hurt worse. It made the room spin around. I knew it wasn't side effects from alcohol two nights before, but from guilt crawling its way through my system.

"Nile, I have something to tell you…" I mumbled, choking back bile.

"You and Collin?" he guessed.

"How did you…?"

"I saw it comin'."

"I didn't mean to, Nile. I love you so much; you know I wouldn't have kissed him if I were sober."

"Khyri, I'm not mad at you. I was at first, when you had gotten 'ill' out of nowhere, I knew that that was what had happened. But I'm not mad anymore. I basically pushed you to Collin."

"Don't say that! Nile, it was a mistake and it was my fault. I should've known my limit that night."

"He's in love with you, too, Khy. You know that."

"Mal said the same thing to me yesterday. I honestly didn't know that before."

"I have somethin' to confess to you, too."

"Delia…?" I guessed.

"Yeah, Delia. She and I Skyped the other day… I don't know what's goin' on there."

"She's your celeb crush. I understand it," I smiled. I really did understand it. If he didn't jump for Delia, he'd never forgive himself.

"You do…?"

"Nile, I understand it. I guess we're both in a way…" I sighed.

"You're leavin' in a couple weeks aren't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"I heard your stepdad talkin' to Lady Persephone about it when I came yesterday."

"What are we going to do?"

"We'll see when the time comes."

"That seems good to me. Perfect, really."

"If you two are gonna be making out all the damn time, at least put a sock on the door," Rey huffed as she strolled in to sit on my bed.

"Yes, Rey, what is it?" I smiled.

"Nothing…I just thought that maybe I'd get to have a little cuddle time with my sister, too?"

"Well come over here," Nile told her.

Nile and I split up and left a little spot open for Reyghan. She sat down between us on the couch.

"What are we watching?" Rey asked.

"The Olympics," I said.

Nile had his arm around her shoulder and I had one around her waist.

Let me just tell you, Rey has always been the baby of the family. So she's spoiled and babied beyond belief, and I add to it. I love her so much, I do everything I can to protect her and give her what she wants. Since I'd been with Nile, he'd adopted the same mindset for Rey as I had, so he treated her like a babied little sister.

We sat there in silence as we watched the sports go by on the screen.

"Is it just me, or do the Olympics remind you of the Hunger Games?" Rey asked.

"Rey, I said that, days ago," I laughed.

"Oh," she pouted a bit. "So, Nile, when are you leaving again? I don't like it when you're gone."

"I won't be leavin' again until the tenth."

"How long will you be gone?" Rey and I asked in unison.

"We leave the thirteenth," I said.

"I'll try to be back before you leave, but we're performin' at the Closin' Ceremony."

"You got the Closing Ceremony?!" Rey and I squealed.

Nile laughed, "We did."

"That's amazing! You must be so excited!" I exclaimed.

"What song are you doing?!" Rey asked.

"Probably _Why You're Gorgeous_ or _Certain Somethin'_."

"The ones everyone knows…" Rey nodded.

"Yeah."

"You'll be brilliant, Nile. This Way will be fantastic," I said honestly.


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before, and still. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it and continue to read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know. **

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**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

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"Hey, Khyri," Collin said the next day, after my jog.

He was sitting on the front steps with another potted lavender orchid.

"Hi, Collin," I said as I wrapped up my ear buds. "What's up?" I asked as I sat down next to him.

"I was wondering: did something happen between us the other night?" He asked so innocently, I could tell he really wasn't sure.

"We…kissed." I said.

"We kissed?! But you're with Nile! Oh, my God! I'm so sorry, Khyri!"

"It's fine, Collin. It was both of us."

"How do you mean?"

"Nothing. I mean nothing. But, just know, it wasn't just you in that kiss," I said as I stood up to go inside.

"Your flower!" Collin said as he handed me the potted plant.

"Thank you, Collin. I love it," I smiled as I went inside.

"Ness, I have a problem. I really need your help," I said when I had called Vanessa the afternoon after.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I kissed Collin a few nights ago."

"Who's Collin?"

"The friend I made over here, he's a viscount. Anyway, we all went to a club 'cause they were trying to get the fact that Nile wasn't there off of my mind. I drank- got a little drunk. The last thing I remember was asking Collin to dance with me because I didn't want to spend the whole night at the bar. The next morning, I had a hangover and Mallory was telling me that she saw Collin and me kissing."

"How long did it last?" her voice held the same analytical tone it had back when we met in that Algebra 2 class her freshman year and my sophomore year of high school.

"Apparently a few seconds, but the point is that I cheated on Nile!"

"Did you tell him yet?"

"Yeah, we talked about it yesterday. But he also told me that he's got this thing for Delia."

"Delia Leviathan?"

"Yeah, that Delia."

"You mean like a celeb crush kinda thing?"

"Like that. But I kinda have a thing for Collin. Is that bad?"

"If you both know that you two have things for other people… I don't know what to tell you about that. I know you'll be coming home in a week and a half, so, are you two going to break up or stay together after the summer is over?"

"We decided that we'll see where it goes."

"That doesn't sound right for two people who love each other."

"I know it doesn't. But how are we going to make a relationship work if we're never anywhere near each other?"

"You know I'm not a fan of long distance relationships…but I saw the love that you and Nile share for each other… You're perfect for each other."

"Maybe it isn't the time for us, yet?"

"That could be," Ness sighed. "But I'm glad you found love. Someone who didn't hurt you."

"I genuinely love Nile, though. I don't want to break up with him."

"You want my advice?"

"Always," I told her.

"Stay with Nile as long as you can. Enjoy your time together. He gave you a promise ring for a reason. Promise to find each other always."

"That's insightful."

"You know how I do," she laughed.

"Thank you, Ness. I really am glad that you're the one I called."

"Well, thank you for calling me. I miss you, Khy Khy."

"I'll be back in a week and a half. Will you be by the house when we get home?"

"Of course. I think everyone's showing up there. We all miss your family so much."

"We miss y'all, too. So I'll talk to you in a few?"

"Yeah, love you, bye."

"Love you, bye."

"What movie are we watching today?" I asked Nile as I stuffed some popcorn into my mouth.

We were over at his house that night after dinner and decided to watch a slasher movie. So, naturally, _Scream_ was the movie he put in.

We curled up together on the bed and not too soon, Nile was nibbling at my ear and neck. I'd seen _Scream _so many times; I was perfectly fine with him kissing on me and getting lost in it.

Halfway through the movie, he and I had heat up and he was topless on top of me. We were covered by the comforter and blankets he had on the bed.

Nile slowly lifted off my top and kissed down my neck. He kissed his way along my chest and over the tops of my bra covered chest. There was no way I was going to stop him, he was still in the realm of my comfort, plus, it was amazing. When he was back to kissing my lips, I felt his hand gently cup my breast.

A gasp escaped my lips as a soft moan made its way past Nile's. His hand slowly descended down my torso to my hip. I wrapped my legs around his and pulled him closer to me. He grew on top of me and apologized that it happened.

"Nile, you don't have to apologize for it; you're a guy," I breathed.

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'll tell you if I'm not."

Nile looked into my eyes as he started unbuttoning my pants I helped him take them the rest of the way off. He started taking his off and kicked them off in seconds.

"You're okay, Khyri?" he asked again.

"I am."

"I want you, Khy."

"I do, too, Nile."

There was no doubt in my mind that he and I would be married one day. Only question was whether we should wait or not. We were so close and shivers of desire were running fingers all across my body.

"We should wait," he and I said in unison.

"You think so, too?" we said together.

"Look, you and I, we're gonna be together," I said as Nile gently sat up and I followed him to sit up, as well.

"I want to marry you, someday," Nile said sweetly.

"You do?"

"Of course," he chuckled. "I keep sayin' that you're the love of me life. I mean that."

"I know. And I know that we're gonna get married, someday, but it's weird to hear it from you out loud."

"I really think we should wait. I want it to be special for you. Not on my couch."

"I want it to be as special for you as it will be for me. That's why I want to wait."

"Just being with you will be special for me," he said before crushing his lips on mine.

I wrapped my arms tightly around him and kissed him back. We made out for the rest of the movie, caressing each other, getting even more familiar with the other's body. Nothing more than that happened between us that day other than verbal declarations of love and tangible proof of caring.

When ten rolled around, we were just lying there; my nose buried in his neck as he caressed my shoulders and back and ran fingers through my hair. I started to softly sing Ed Sheeran's _Kiss Me_ as I enjoyed the stillness of the moment in the darkness with Nile in my arms. I never wanted that moment to be over.

I drove back home that night in the car that I had borrowed from my mom and Bill; I had tried to come into the manor as quietly as I could because it was almost midnight.

"You're certainly home late, Khyri," Persephone said as she sat down the book she was reading by lamplight in the main room.

"I was watching a movie over at Nile's house," I told her.

"May I speak with you?" she asked. She invited me to sit with her on the plush couch.

For a long moment, neither of us said a word. We had a silent stare down; basically seeing which of us would apologize first. The old bag was just as stubborn as I was- neither of us willing to relent to the other. She was a formidable opponent, but I won that.

After she'd lost, she decided to speak. "It was wrong of me to force the young Viscount Berwyn onto you."

"Then, why did you, Persephone?"

She sighed in a most dignified manner, "You and Nile are such a lovely couple. In spite of that, I see myself in you. You and I are kindred, whether or not that pleases you. I saw that you and Nile were becoming so involved that you needed to have a view at your options. When I saw Viscount Collin ask for your hand in a dance and then come to call on you, I knew how much he cared for you as well. You needed perspective."

"I liked the perspective that I had before Collin."

"Yes, yes, I could see that for myself. Though, I had been put into a similar situation by my grandmother when I was your age. I was madly in love with a suitor named, Joshua. My grandmother introduced me to my Louis. Not soon after did Louis and I fall in love and betrothed. I chose Louis because he was more compatible for me. If I had not had my grandmother meddling, I would not have become a Whitloch and I would not have married the love of my life."

"Did you ever consider a future with Joshua?"

"Of course, I did. Louis was just more suited to me than Joshua."

"So, you meddled for my own good…?"

"I care about you, Khyri. You three girls are close to the granddaughters that I never had. As I had said before, lass, you and I are kindred. I feel a deep bond with you over the other girls," she said as she tucked away stray hairs on my head from the winds outside. Her green eyes held warmth in them that I had never dared be close enough to see before.

"Do you think you could warn me next time you decide to meddle, though," I smiled.

"Perhaps," she smiled back.

"Your plan wasn't too far off, though, Great Aunt Persephone."

"Oh?" she raised a delicate eyebrow.

"I have feelings for Collin."

Her smile grew.

I smiled softly, "But those feelings don't hold a flame to what I feel for Nile."

"I thought it was worth a try," she grinned.

"Thank you for meddling, though," I said. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged this frail woman- who was built much stronger than she looked- for the first time.

After recovering from her shock, she hugged me back before we stood to walk up to the divide in the staircase together. We hugged good night one last time before she walked to the east wing and I walked to the west wing.


	26. Chapter 26

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before, and still. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it and continue to read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know.**

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**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

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"You really should get packing, dearie." GAP said as she wandered into my suite. "I had asked about your favorite color, so that we could bring in purple things for you. I like what my decorator did for your suite."

"I do, too. I'd wondered when I first got here how my room had purple stuff and Rey's room had green, our favorite colors."

"I wanted you girls to feel comfortable. Mallory's room has changed colors many times over the summers. At least we haven't had to change the colors in there for the past three."

I chuckled. "I know I should start packing, but I don't want to leave. I can't think that in four days, I'll be on a plane flight back home. Back to Salisbury… It seems unreal after my experiences here. I'd stay here, if I could."

"I would love for you to stay here with me," she smiled.

The week after that talk with GAP, she and I had grown closer together. We did squabble some over tiny issues, but that was because she was old school where I was new school, and we were both stubborn in the same areas. She was right though, she and I were very much alike. It threw my family for a loop the next morning how GAP and I talked like old friends at the brunch table. She and I were almost inseparable. Nile had left for a couple days to view the Olympics with a friend of his, but I spent time with GAP and his absence became a small ache. She made me feel better, like someone who really did understand me because she was like me. She had great relationships with both Nile and Collin on completely different levels from each other, but in ways that I appreciated.

"You'd let me stay, if I wanted?"

"You are always welcome here, Khyri. I don't like being alone, even though I come off in that way. I'm grateful that my sister, Ariadne, started spending her summers here when William and Arthur were children. I was thankful when William continued coming even after Ariadne's death, bringing Mallory here and now you and Reyghan and Carroll."

"Wait, Persephone and Ariadne, your mother named you both Greek," I smiled.

"You know about Greek mythology? So, you know Persephone and Ariadne's stories?" she asked excitedly.

"I do."

"I thought mythology had been lost on today's youth."

I laughed, "I was interested in Greek and Roman mythology ever since I'd first heard parts of the stories of a couple Olympian gods in the sixth grade. Other than the parts my teacher taught us about the Bible stories, the mythology section was my highest grade in the class that year. I started reading about the myths later on. I even got into this book series with Greek and now Roman and Greek mythologies."

"So, I guess you know that mother named Ariadne and I tragically?" she chuckled.

"Yeah, I knew, I just wasn't gonna say that your names are tragic. But they are beautiful."

"Very much so," she grinned. "Nile leaves tomorrow for London, correct?"

"He does," I nodded.

"Then why are you not with him. This may be you last night together this summer."

"He's taking me out on a date tonight."

"Cherish the rest of your time with him."

"I will, Great Aunt Persephone, thank you."

"Cherish it," she repeated as she stood up and kissed the top of my head before she walked back out of my room.

"You look wonderful," Nile said as he kissed me.

We were at the same restaurant we had come to for our first date. Nile looked incredible. He was dressed in a burgundy shirt and black slacks with a grey tie. It really did look nice on him. Especially since when he'd left last, he'd gotten his hair cut and I could now see his natural brown hair more than his blonde.

I had let my hair down that night and straightened then curled it. I wore a simply elegant black dress that I had bought in town and colored it up with only my make-up. I kept on the watch that Nile had given to me on my ankle and the necklace and the promise ring, I never took them off.

"You look spectacular," I smiled when we parted.

We sat down and ordered food and Nile got us a bottle of champagne.

"I can't believe this is our last night together of the summer," I half smiled. The moment with him was bitter/sweet.

"Don't say it sadly. It's not like it's our last night together."

"You're right," I nodded.

I lifted my glass of freshly poured champagne and said, "I know it's stupidly cheesy, but I'd like to toast to us."

Nile smiled brightly and raised his glass to clink it against mine.

"Are you nervous about the Olympics?"

"A little bit. We'll be performin' for the whole world. That will be the biggest crowd we will ever perform in front of."

"That would be nerve racking, but that would also make me even more ready to do it. Under that kind of pressure, I'd want to have the best performance of my entire life."

"That's how I'm feelin'. I want the Wayers to be proud of us."

"Have you checked the fandom? The Wayers are proud that y'all are even on the bill. We're excited for y'all and we know you'll be brilliant."

"I have two other things to tell you," he smiled.

"What is it?"

"First of all, we got the VMAs this year!"

"The VMAs? The VMAs?! The VMAs!"

"Yeah, buddy!" he exclaimed.

"That's excellent!"

"We're in a couple categories plus we'll be performin'!"

"I'm so happy for you! I'm not sure which one I'm more excited about the frickin' VMAs or the Olympics?!"

"You?!" he chuckled.

"All the Wayers are gonna be freaking out for a month," I said before taking a sip of champagne.

"I know they will," Nile beamed.

The food came right after that, so, of course, we barely spoke during dinner because we were eating our food in delight.

Between dinner and desert, we spoke again.

"So, there was something else you had to tell me…?" I raised an eyebrow.

He thought about it for a second and then remembered, "Oh, yeah. So, me and the boys are gonna be movin' to London together. Well, not livin' together, but we'll be right near each other."

"That should be fun," I smiled.

"It'll be," he nodded.

After we ate desert, we left the restaurant and walked around Mullingar together.

"We're gonna need to talk about it sometime…" I started.

We had reached the pasture that I had been crying in on my second day in Mullingar.

"I'm not ready to. I don't want to let you go."

"We'll be together, Nile. But you know that neither of us is ready to settle down, yet. If we stay together, that's what we'll do. It'll be too soon."

"I love you so much, though. You're the first girl that I've ever been this serious about."

"I love you, too. I always will love you. You're the love of my life."

He grinned at me like I had offered him the key to the whole world. "I've been waitin' to hear you say that."

"I was thinking it from our second week together."

"So are we officially broken up?"

"No. Not yet." I thought about when would be the right time. "When I step on the plane Monday, then we'll be officially broken up."

"That sounds reasonable."

"Since we'll be broken up, I think it would be reasonable that we be free. We're only eighteen, if we're broken up, we should be free to date whoever crosses our paths. That means that you're free to date Delia. I know it's gonna happen, so, I don't want you to feel guilty about it."

"You're sure?"

"It'll look weird if we don't date anyone. I won't blame you for it at all."

"Thank you. If you and Collin… I won't mind."

"Thank you," I said gratefully. "So, I have something to tell you," I said as caressed his arms and hands while we sat in the middle of the pasture.

"What is it?"

"I'm thinking of coming back to Mullingar to live with Great Aunt Persephone for a while."

"You're going to live here?!"

"Yeah," I smiled. "You know that Persephone and I have gotten so much closer this past week. She told me today how much she hates living alone. She's sixty five; I don't want her being alone as often as she gets older. Plus, I've grown to really love Mullingar. As much as I miss Salisbury, I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss Mullingar more. This is the place I found my true love."

"I'm glad Mullingar didn't turn out as boring as you thought it would be."

"I am, too. I think I'll stay here, but still try to make it."

"I'm sure you'll make it. You have too much talent; someone will see it and sign you."

"I know it'll happen for me someday. I'll be right on the A-list like you."

Nile kissed me and then smiled, "I adore that ambition."

We lay back on the grass and stared up at the constellations in the sky. We held hands, fingers entwined, tightly. I didn't want to let go of Nile, but I knew that it was the right thing to do.

Nile and I walked back to Mallory's car together and I drove him to his house.

"Tell your dad that I said bye and give him a hug from me. I'm sure I'll see him about when I come back, but I don't want him thinking I don't care about him."

"I will," he chuckled.

"Tell the boys I said that I'll miss them and to sing well at the Olympics and the VMAs, and…everything else," I smiled.

"Of course."

"God, I don't want to say goodbye," I said, my eyes tearing up.

Nile's were watering as well, one tear even rolled down his cheek. "Don't make it a 'goodbye'. We'll see each other again."

"I don't know, this world is pretty big," I choked back my tears that were close to damming over and decided to quote him the first time we met.

"We'll see each other again," he smiled; more tears came down from his eyes.

Hot tears finally sprung from my eyes and he pulled me in for a deep kiss- our last kiss together of summer 2012. When we pulled away from each other, my heart broke, and I found it nearly unbearable to pull my arms from around his neck.

"I love you, Nile Jamison Borran." I told him through a sob.

"I love you, Khyri Ryne Marrin."


	27. Chapter 27

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before, and still. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it and continue to read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know.**

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

*****Thank you to everyone who read this story from the begining. Thank you for messaging me and reviewing me on the story. You guys pushed me to write. I've never written a story of this scale before in my life, or this fast. Thank you for pushing me to be a better author. I'm coming up with ideas for new stories, now. So, please don't forget about me.*****

* * *

"Come on, Khyri! Our plane leaves at 2:43," mom called.

Both Reyghan and Mallory rolled into my room with their bags. They were loaded up with everything they'd bought that summer along with the clothes they'd brought with them.

"I can't believe you're moving here," Reyghan said as she shook her head.

I shouldered the one bag that I was taking back with me to Salisbury. I knew I didn't have to take everything that I owned back with me. I would only be away from Mullingar for a week, not the rest of the year. There was no need to over pack.

The three of us walked down the stairs together. I went ahead of Rey and Mal because they had more bags than I had. Everyone drove to the airport, I decided to ride with Mal and Rey as mom and Bill followed in their rented car, and GAP followed with her driver in one of her cars- the same black one from the day we'd arrived.

When we got to the airport, Bill went off to return the car that they'd rented for the summer. Collin had met us at the airport and hugged me when he saw me.

"You know I'll be right back," I chuckled.

"I know that. I can't believe we'll both be living in Mullingar."

"I can't believe that your father's making you stay here. What business would a viscount have in Mullingar?"

Collin chuckled, "You'd be surprised."

Our plane was about to start boarding and we rushed around giving everyone we'd be leaving behind hugs and kisses. Mallory was only with us at the airport to say goodbye. She'd be leaving Mullingar to go back to London a little later.

I hugged Mallory tightly. "I'm gonna miss you sis."

"You too, little sis. You'll come up to visit me in London, won't you?"

"Of course. I'm gonna get amazing frequent flyer miles," I laughed.

"I love you," we both said.

We hugged again before I moved on to GAP and she moved on to Rey.

"I will see you on Tuesday, dearie," GAP said after we pulled away from our hug.

"I'll see you Tuesday. I can't wait to see my new room on the east wing."

"I'll be sure to water your flowers."

"Thank you," I smiled.

"Don't forget to put on the jumper I got you on the plane."

"I will."

We told each other we loved each other before moving on, again.

Last was Collin.

"Hey, it's only a week. We'll be hanging out again soon," Collin laughed half-heartedly.

"I know. Don't miss me too much."

"You kidding? How will I miss you if we'll be in constant contact all week?" he joked.

"Shut up, Collin," I laughed as I fell into his embrace.

He kissed the top of my head before we pulled away from each other.

"Don't forget to call me when you hit Salisbury, okay?"

"I'll call you."

Mom, Bill, Rey, and I got onto the plane.

When we took our seats, I was thankful that I got the window seat. I looked out to see everyone inside the airport waving at us on the plane. I saw Nile running up to the window where everyone else was standing, his bags dropped and forgotten behind him.

It was almost like he could see me from where he stood, he started waving to me; I could see his face was disgruntled.

A tear rolled down my cheek and I choked half laugh, half sob as I saw him waving at me. I didn't think that he'd be there. He'd just played _Why You're Gorgeous_ the night before at the Olympics Closing Ceremony.

My whole family was crowded around the box in the main room the night before watching all the bands perform, This Way included. Nile got so much screen time. It really made me proud to see him performing so well, doing the thing that he loved doing.

Our plane took off and during the flight I thought. I thought back on everything that had happened in Mullingar: the good, the bad, the PMS.

When we got back to our house at 10, I rushed up to my bedroom, to my bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.

The next morning, I called or texted everyone to let them know that we'd arrived safely the night before.

I was so jetlagged throughout the day though. I lounged in the pool on an inflatable raft.

Carsen was the first one to show up by the pool, Bailey holding her hand and Claire in her arms.

I jumped out of the pool to hug them tightly. Vanessa came strolling through a few minutes later. I hugged her tightly, too. Then came Sienna twenty minutes after Ness had gotten there.

We all talked and hung out in the pool like we had before my family left for Mullingar. But I felt changed. Mullingar made me a different person.

"I can't believe you're moving to Ireland," Sienna shook her head.

"I can't even imagine staying here, anymore."

"What are we going to do without you, now?" Carsen said.

"What you did without me all summer," I chuckled. "You'll be fine."

I went back to Mullingar the next Tuesday where I would rotate between staying with Great Aunt Persephone in Mullingar, to Mallory in London, and my mom, Bill, and Reyghan in Salisbury. I went back home and was glued to my box as I watched This Way perform _Certain Something _to perfection and win two "Moon Men" at the _Video Music Awards_.

Collin and I did start dating but it happened 15th November 2012. The tabloids reported Nile and Delia dating not too long after that. I fell in love with Collin, but it was never close to the love that I carried for Nile.

I didn't see Nile when I was in Mullingar or in London. Nor did I see him anywhere else in the world in person after I had become famous.


	28. Epilogue

**Thank You for all of the interest in this story before, and still. It really means so much to me that so many people had read it and continue to read it. Please, pass this story on to your friends or anyone else you know.**

* * *

**Please leave me some reviews on how you like the story, it's greatly appreciated.**

* * *

*****Thank you to everyone who read this story from the begining. Thank you for messaging me and reviewing me on the story. You guys pushed me to write. I've never written a story of this scale before in my life, or this fast. Thank you for pushing me to be a better author. I'm coming up with ideas for new stories, now. So, please don't forget about me.*****

* * *

Nile's POV

"C'mon Nile, let's get out there," Lewis said.

He handed me the microphone.

We were just about to perform at the VMAs for our third time.

"Ms. Marrin, you're on in nineteen minutes."

"Thank you," I heard the voice of the woman I hadn't heard in person in five years: Khyri Ryne Marrin.

I turned where I stood, stricken. She walked past me, didn't even see me standing there.

Her hair was short. She wore high heeled shoes with as short tutu-like dress. She'd become skinnier since I'd seen her last, but I didn't care what her size was. And her face glowed even more now at twenty three than it had at eighteen.

She was my Khyri.

When I'd first seen her rise to fame as a singer and actress, two and a half years from the summer we'd spent together in Mullingar 2012, I'd noticed that she was still mine. I knew because she still wore the watch I'd given to her that I'd left in her room when she had been grounded, she still wore it on her ankle. Around her neck, she wore the heart pendent necklace I'd bought for her and gave to her the night of her first society ball. And on the chain along with the pendent, was also the promise ring that I'd given to her with fear of rejection in my throat.

Five years later, standing in front of me, she still wore all three of those things. Whenever I'd see her on the tellie at a movie premier or concert and in the press on an outing, she'd still worn all three things.

She and I didn't speak to each other after the night we broke up as a promise to give each other the space we needed, but it killed me not to call her, text her, tweet her, or Skype her.

I had had a relationship with Delia Leviathan not too long after Khyri and I broke up, but that wasn't as satisfying as I'd thought it would be and broke up with her a year after- probably because Khyri held my heart. Khyri and Viscount Collin Berwyn III had been together when Khyri has rose to fame, but they broke up a year and a half after she'd been famous. Collin had proposed to her, the tabloids there to witness it, but she'd declined him right then and there.

Reyghan, Khyri's little sister became famous, too. She'd risen to fame slowly but surely. She was a force in the music business, she and her best friend, Kasey. They had an R&B sound while Khyri had pop music and power ballads.

"Nile, we have to go. We're on in thirty seconds!" Liem exclaimed as he pulled on my arm.

Hearing my name, Khyri looked around and searched for me. When her brown eyes fell on me, they widened, and her face melted into a soft smile- like she'd finally found home.

I smiled back at her, I saw the love of my life standing there before me and I knew that this time, I wasn't going to let her go.

A year after that VMAs, I proposed to Khyri in front of the Rock N' Bowl in Mullingar, the place where she and I had first laid eyes on each other.

Six months after that, we were married. My brother and the members of This Way were my groomsmen and Reyghan, Mallory, Vanessa, Carsen, and Sienna were Khyri's bridesmaids. Mallory and Dylan's baby son was our ring bearer; Lewis's daughter was the flower girl. All of our friends' children had roles in the wedding, so, that included Carsen's son and daughter, Vanessa's daughter, Liem's two sons, Sienna's son, and Lewis's older and younger son.

Three years after we'd been married, Khyri gave birth to fraternal twins, boy and girl, Liam and Dhylan. Three years after that we had another set of fraternal twins, boy and girl again, Greyson and Ahnderli.

Even though Khyri and I didn't have a conventional love story, it didn't matter because we weren't conventional people. We loved our lives because we loved each other. We had a story that began in Mullingar, Ireland during summer holiday as two teenagers. But when I hold Khyri in my arms, watch her with our kids, see her perform a concert I know that she is the absolute love of me life.

**The End**


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